


Always You

by CQueen



Series: Only, Always Yours [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Family Drama, M/M, Reconciliation, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-23 09:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 29,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30053364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CQueen/pseuds/CQueen
Summary: Sequel to 'Only You'. Al and Scorpius haven't been a couple in a while, but fate has put them together again and they must not only deal with their past together, but their turbulent present. Also Albus/Gellert and Domi/OC.
Relationships: Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Series: Only, Always Yours [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2211000
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	1. Bad News

IMPORTANT: This is a sequel, people. If you don't read 'Only You' a lot of this will not make any sense to you. This fanfic starts off right where 'Only You' ended. The original was Albus/Gellert centered, this will be Al/Scorpius centered with Albus, Gellert, Domi and Christopher as supporting.

Bad News

Scorpius was worried as he walked down the hallway after dinner. He wasn't overly worried about the fact that Wimbledon, Domi, and Gellert hadn't shown up for dinner...except that their absences made him more worried about Al. Because if all four of them were missing then something was definitely up. Al was not the type to miss dinner. What was really annoying was that he shouldn't have to worry about his ex boyfriend at all. You were supposed to wish bad things for your exes. But he and Al weren't typical exes, Scorpius thought as he jabbed his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders.

Arriving at his dorm room Scorpius stared at the door, wondering if Al would be behind it. And what a kick in the arse that was, sharing a dorm room with his former boyfriend after leaving Hogwarts to get away from the Gryffindor. That Gellert and Wimbledon shared the room with them didn't matter either. He was still sleeping in a bed across from Al, which had caused him more than one sleepless night. And would continue to do so until the end of December when Al, Wimbledon, and Domi went back at Hogwarts where they belonged.

Opening the door Scorpius raised an eyebrow when he saw that Al was waiting for him. The Gryffindor stood with his back against the wall between the two bunk beds, still dressed in the clothes he'd been wearing the last time he'd seen him. But there was a new addition to the man's look that had Scorpius giving him a weird, questioning look. The man was wearing sunglasses even though it was night, they were indoors, and there were no windows in their door room.

"What's going on?"

"You're sleeping in my bed tonight."

Scorpius blinked in shock. "Excuse me?"

Al's lips curved ever so slightly. "Not that way, Gutter Mind. I mean that you're going to want to sleep in my bed tonight. I'll sleep in Albus's."

Opening his mouth to demand to know why he needed to sleep in Al's bed Scorpius's mouth closed as he looked in the direction of Gellert's bottom bunk. Where, he knew instinctively, the blond and Wimbledon would be. Together. Probably naked and doing things he couldn't bring himself to imagine or want to. "Oh come on." Making a disgusted face Scorpius glared at the curtains hiding the bed's occupants from his sight. "All I asked was that they not have sex in the bed while I was in the room. Why the hell is that too much to ask?"

Walking forward before Scorpius could say another word Al placed two fingers against the former Slytherin's lips. "Not tonight. Tonight you're going to let it go and sleep in my bed. Tomorrow we'll switch it up and Albus will move over to Gellert's side. You and I will share a bunk for the rest of the term. You can have top or bottom, your choice."

Since his teenage mind was already in the gutter Scorpius automatically started having images of Al on top of him or under him, neither of them with clothes on or any thoughts in their heads but screwing each other's brains out. It took several moments longer then it should have to realize that Al was referring to the bunk bed.

Having a very good idea where Scorpius's mind had gone, his had too as soon as the words had left his lips, Al just shook his head at the both of them.

Annoyed with himself and the fact that the other man seemed to find their current situation humorous Scorpius glared over at Al, his annoyance fading a little as his eyes kept returning to the black sunglasses. Why the heck was Al wearing them?

Moving in closer Scorpius reached out and grasped the sides of the shades, his eyes silently asking if there was a reason he couldn't remove them. When Al made no move to stop him Scorpius slid them up to perch the sunglasses on top of the other boy's head. And now that the shades were no longer in place Scorpius could see exactly why the Gryffindor had been wearing them.

Al's eyes were red.

Instantly forgetting about everything else, including the boundaries between them now, Scorpius framed the other man's face between his hands, his grey eyes darkening with worry. "What's wrong? What happened? Did something happen when all of you were away? Someone said your father was here, did he have bad news? Is Gellert in trouble with the law again?"

Smiling at the man's concern Al placed his hands over Scorpius's, stroking his fingers over the pale white skin there. "Everything's okay. They were mostly good tears."

"Good tears about what?" Scorpius insisted, not about to be pacified easily. Al had lied to him too many times about being all right when he wasn't in the past. He had no intention of just taking the other man's word for it this time.

"The fact that love really is as amazing and powerful and as healing as they say it is."

"It can be." Or a force of destruction that ruins lives because love was addicting and giving it up was beyond painful, Scorpius mentally added bitterly. "I take that to mean that someone in your family is getting married or having babies or both?" The man had so many relatives there was always a wedding or birth going on these days.

"No, though I suppose a wedding might come out of it in the end. Gellert would probably appreciate the idea since it would symbolize Albus's acceptance that they're stuck together for life. Plus their moms will want a wedding; I think they're going to get along real well once they meet. Add my mom to the mix and who knows what the three will come up with."

"Wait…what?" Blinking several times Scorpius struggled to digest what Al was insinuating. Of course he knew that their two roommates were an on and off again couple, he had to live with them after all. And they'd been very on lately but still…they were talking marriage now?

"Careful or your face might stick that way." Al teased, moving one hand away so that he could ruffle the blond hair Scorpius was currently growing out. "I'm not saying they're going to tie the knot after school's over or anything like that. I'm just saying that they've finally…reached an understanding of what they want most and how much they love each other."

"Gellert actually used the L word?" Scorpius's skepticism was written all over his face. He'd been roommates with the man long enough to know that Gellert Stalanski was not a man who was in touch with his feelings. At least not his positive feelings.

Chuckling, Al understood the other man's reaction perfectly. "Apparently he just said it once, but he said it. And more importantly he meant it."

"And they just think that's going to magically fix everything?"

"Love is the greatest magic of all." Al returned softly.

"Or the greatest curse. I'll take my bed, we'll figure out sleeping arrangements tomorrow."

Taking the blond's abruptness in stride since he knew love was a sore topic for his former man, Al nodded and wished the other man good night.

And Al stayed where he was, watching Scorpius leave, until the other man was out of his sight.

)

The next day it was decided that Albus and Scorpius would simply switch bunks and Al would remain where he was. Scorpius had planned to give Gellert hell in the morning but he'd taken one look at the blond and Wimbledon and decided to hold his tongue. The two men looked lighter and happier than he'd ever seen them, and while he wouldn't call the redhead his friend Scorpius wasn't so much of a jerk that he couldn't be somewhat happy for them. Though he was damn well going to make sure that they put some sort of spell around the bunk so that he didn't hear so much as a peep from the bed he had no doubt the two intended to share.

At breakfast Domi did a lot of sighing dreamily, watching Gellert and Albus with a huge grin on her face. It was obvious to everyone that she was very pleased with the way things were going between the two men.

She didn't look like the cat that ate the cream. She looked like the cat that ate the contents of a bird sanctuary.

Shaking his head Albus looked at his friend fondly, still marveling over the fact that she had been one of the people who'd known the truth about him but had kept quiet for his sake all this time. Domi was not the type to keep quiet, it must have killed her to keep mum about it. And now he knew the real reason why she'd left Beauxbatons even though she'd been so excited to go there in the fall. She'd left because she was romantic enough that as soon as she'd heard the name of his new roommate she'd guessed that he hadn't been the only one to be reborn, and had hurried to protect and help him.

"Can't you get your girlfriend under control?" Gellert asked Christopher, not bothering to sign it since he had no problem with the girl knowing what he was saying.

Looking up from his bacon Christopher smirked. 'Do I look like I have an army at my disposal?' He signed across the table. He didn't know what had happened between Gellert and Albus the night before, but it had obviously been good and he wasn't the prying type. Everything was better in all their lives at the moment and he intended to enjoy it while it lasted.

"You need to sign slower, I only got a tiny bit of that." Domi pouted. She'd purchased a book to learn sign language and Albus was helping her, but she'd only started learning a couple weeks ago.

Taking her hand in his Christopher brought it to his lips, a silent show of affection for the fact that she was learning for his sake.

Rolling his eyes as Domi made eyes at Christopher, who grinned back at the girl like an idiot, Gellert did his best to ignore all the love dovey hearts that seemed to be floating around. The he was possible producing some of those hearts was enough to have him deliberately keeping a faintly bored look on his face. But it had been an eventful night and Gellert slipped up every once in a while, looking up at Albus with a soft look in his eyes. But not gooey looks, Gellert reminded himself sternly. He didn't do gooey looks under any circumstances.

Well aware that they were the only ones not in romantic bliss Al and Scorpius did their best to ignore the other four members of their group and instead concentrated on their food. It wasn't easy, but they managed to make it through the meal without choking on all the heat the others were producing.

They got through the rest of the day well enough, and it was during Al and Scorpius's last classes that they were called outside to be informed that as soon as their respective classes ended they were to report to the same meeting room that Al's father and Gellert had met in the night before. Scorpius was told that his mother wished to see him and Al was told that his presence had been requested by Scorpius's great aunt, Andromeda. Apparently she thought that Scorpius would benefit from his presence when his mother gave him some unexpected news.

Neither knew what to think about the summoning, but both headed straight to the assigned meeting place as soon as their classes ended.

)

Walking through the crowded hallways Scorpius tried to think of what his mother could want. It had to be something important if she had decided it warranted her coming to the school instead of just sending him a letter. Could something have happened to a member of the family? But if that was the case wouldn't he have been pulled from class immediately instead of being told that he could wait until class was over? That made the most logical sense, but did nothing to calm the butterflies that were currently flying around his stomach like mad.

Blinking in surprise when Al fell into step with him from out of nowhere Scorpius gave the Gryffindor a questioning look. "Where are you headed to?"

"Same place as you."

"What? Why? Do you know what's going on? All I know is that my mother is here to talk to me."

Al shrugged, not wanting to worry the man unnecessarily. "Sorry, I don't know much except that apparently Andromeda is with her and asked that I come too."

His great aunt was here too? With his mother? What the hell? The two were civil enough with each other, but since his paternal grandmother was not on speaking terms with her sister Scorpius doubted that his mother had exchanged more than polite nods with Andromeda in the past. Had something happened to his grandmother?

"Don't think so hard or your brain will explode before we get there." Al cautioned, biting back the urge to give the other man's shoulder a comforting rub. Hands off was best for them, especially when emotions were riding high. Unless Scorpius was about to get really bad news, Al quietly amended as he moved just a little closer. Then he'd give Scorpius whatever he needed from him.

Trying to take the other man's advice Scorpius did his best to hide his inner turmoil, holding the door open for Al when they reached the assigned room. Following in after the Gryffindor Scorpius closed the door, took a deep breath, and then turned around to face the two women quietly waiting for them.

Andromeda's face revealed nothing, which was standard for her. Scorpius's mother's face was the oddest mixture of happiness and sadness, like she'd gotten something wonderful but had had to suffer to get it. That look had Scorpius hurrying over to draw his mother into a hug, sensing that she needed it. They weren't the type to be publicly affectionate, but Scorpius figured that Al and Andromeda didn't count as public.

Pulling back with some reluctance Astoria Malfoy framed her son's face between her hands. "I can see from your face that I worried you. I didn't mean for my message to sound cryptic. Everyone's fine, no one's had an accident or passed away."

Breathing a small sigh of relief over that Scorpius didn't completely let go of his uneasiness since he could see that there was more to come that wouldn't be so reassuring to hear. "Not that I'm not always happy to see you, Mother, but there's a reason you've come, isn't there?" And abruptly remembering his manners Scorpius sent a quick nod in Andromeda's direction before turning his attention back to his mother.

Astoria nodded ruefully. "True. And I suppose saying that we're all fine is a bit…misleading. Do you want the good news or the bad news first?"

"You can't really tell one without the other." Andromeda pointed out, holding Scorpius's gaze for a moment before her eyes slowly connected with Al's, silently relaying that he would be wise to stay close to Scorpius for the duration of this discussion.

Taking the hint Al moved to stand just slightly behind Scorpius, waiting for the man's mother to explain what was going on.

"I'll start with the good news then." Astoria decided, recognizing that her husband's aunt was correct in thinking that she couldn't tell her son the bad without spilling the good too. So she'd start with what made her happy before she got to the part that made her so sad she'd spent a good part of the last twenty four hours crying her eyes out. "The good news is that you're going to be a big brother. I'm pregnant."

Opening and closing his mouth without anything coming out Scorpius gaped at his mother like a landed fish. In some part of his brain he understood what she'd just said, but the rest of his mind refused to comprehend the fact that his parents had apparently decided to have another baby less than a year after their only child had become an adult. How the baby had come into existence was too traumatizing to think about.

"Congratulations, both of you." Grinning widely Al gave Scorpius a congratulatory slap on the back. "You're going to be a big brother."

"I'm too old to be a big brother."

"We're the same age and I'm a big brother." Al pointed out dryly, though he knew what the other man had meant. But he figured the longer he kept Scorpius talking to him the longer his ex would have to regain his senses and not say something that might accidentally hurt Mrs. Malfoy's feelings. And then it occurred to the Gryffindor that there was apparently bad news still to come.

Thinking along the same lines Scorpius's eyes darkened a little. "Is there something wrong with the baby? With you? Are you too old to have one? Is that the bad news? And why isn't Father here with you?"

Reaching out Al slipped his hand into Scorpius's.

"No, the baby's fine and I'm quite young enough, healthy enough to successfully carry and have this baby." Astoria replied dryly before her face sobered up. "And your father isn't here because…well because your father is being an idiot. Even more than usually. I'm hoping it's only temporary, but just in case it's not I thought you should hear it from me."

"Am I going to have to beat him up for you, Mother?" Scorpius joked with a reassuring smile, trying to lighten the mood for her a little so that she wouldn't feel so nervous about telling him what was going on.

"Quite possibly, Sweetie. Quite possibly."


	2. Family and Friends

Family and Friends

He was going to have to beat up his father? Seriously? His father had taken the news of impending parenthood that badly? He hadn't turned out that badly, had he? Or had something else happened that was so terrible in his father's eyes that it overshadowed the happiness most parents were supposed to feel when they got the pregnancy news. And feeling how close Al was Scorpius suddenly knew that the other man had been brought in to comfort him when the bad news hit.

"What's the bad news, Mother?" Scorpius forced himself to ask softly, steeling himself for the worst.

"Your father's convinced the baby isn't his." Astoria told him, not seeing how she could soften the blow. "Malfoys apparently only ever have one child, so according to him I must have cheated on him. I pointed out that…well that we were still active in that area, but that didn't put a dent in his seriously flawed logic. Which, as many of his former classmates will attest to, isn't unusual for him. Needless to say we argued and said some things we…really shouldn't have said to each other. I left him and I've moved in with Andromeda and her family."

While Scorpius reeled from the new information Al asked a question of his own as he gently rubbed the former Slytherin's tense shoulders. "Why are you living there? Not that that's a bad thing…it's just that that's going to piss your in laws off."

"Which was part of the appeal." Astoria acknowledged ruefully, hurting as much for her son as she was for herself. "I couldn't go to my parents because…well my mother and sister didn't approve of my marriage to Draco in the first place, and the last thing I want to hear right now is their 'I told you so' speeches. And I wanted a place where they wouldn't think to look for me…to give me time to figure things out and cool down. What temper Scorpius has he gets from me." She added ruefully.

"And as she is family we gave her the guest room." And the fact that she knew it would infuriate her sister and brother in law when they found out appealed to her too. Andromeda's gaze softened a little as she met Scorpius's shell shocked gaze. "We'll take good care of her until this can all be sorted out, Scorpius. Flora's already drawing the baby pictures and offering to share a selection of her older toys with him or her."

Numbly Scorpius thanked her out of reflex, a shudder running through his body as his mother came over to give him a tight hug, his arms automatically wrapping around her in return as he hugged her back.

What else could he do?

Moving over to stand beside Andromeda Al gave her a questioning look while he watched the two Malfoys. "Victoire is okay with this? She's not exactly pro Malfoy." And that was an understatement.

"You didn't see Astoria when she showed up at our door." Andromeda said in a low voice meant for Al's ears only. "Victoire might not like Malfoys, but she's got a heart as big as her vanity. And once she heard what Draco had said and done Victoire was completely on Astoria's side. We had quite the little Malfoy bashing session, which Teddy wisely stayed out of."

Al's lips twitched before his face settled back into serious lines. "What are you going to do if he or his parents come looking for her?"

Andromeda raised one aristocratic brow. "You don't honestly think they'd present any real challenge?"

He didn't even have to think about it. "True that."

)

Scorpius was still in a state of shock later on when they joined their roommates and friends at their usual table for dinner. The former Slytherin just sat at the table, dumbly staring at the food in front of them while Al tactfully informed the others about what had happened to put Scorpius in the state of shock to begin with.

"Am I the only one who finds this highly ironic given that only a short time ago we were discussing the fact that Malfoys only reproduce once per couple?" Gellert inquired as he spooned peas onto his plate.

"Oh no." Al paled as he realized that their discussion had probably indirectly caused the Malfoys to produce a second child in the first place. And if that wasn't bad enough they might have also sparked the idiot man's suspicion that the baby Mrs. Malfoy was carrying wasn't his. It could all be their fault. "Scorpius, I'm so, so sorry." Al began, reaching out to place a hand on the other man's arm.

"It's not your fault." Scorpius said softly, cutting off whatever else the Gryffindor might have said. "If you're to blame then I'm to blame too. My father's the one acting like an idiot on purpose."

Across the table Domi shook her head, genuine distress on her face. "This is terrible."

Surprised that she would think something terrible happening in his family was a bad thing Scorpius gave her a questioning look, suspicious of her words of sympathy.

"What? It is. I have things I need to do and now I have to meddle in your family affairs on top of everything else. Do you have any idea how hard sign language is to learn? Do you? The slightest movement of your fingers can give your words new meaning! I don't have time to fix your family right now!"

Albus had a feeling Scorpius wasn't going to like the answer to the question he was about to ask. "Domi…why would you meddle in Malfoy's family affairs in the first place? Normally you'd be quite happy to hear that bad things are happening to them."

"I can't be happy because they're family now." Was Domi's grim, not at all happy response to the redhead's question. "Teddy's family is my family, and now that two thirds of Scorpius's family is acknowledging their bonds with Teddy I have to acknowledge them too. And no member of my family is going to be treated so badly, especially when she's knocked up. Your dad is going down, Malfoy, FYI. It's matter of family pride. Men do not treat our women like crap and live to tell the tale. Or at least not live unscathed."

Scorpius stared at the blonde in horror. "Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse."

"Never think that. They always can." Gellert informed his roommate with a look in his eyes that indicated he thought the other man was an idiot for not realizing that already.

"My man the pessimist." Albus drawled out before his face took on a rueful look. "But he is right about this sort of thing. Things usually can get worse, even when it doesn't seem possible."

Al glared at the two. "So not helping here."

Scorpius sighed and gave Domi a cool look, the blonde schooling his features to hide his turbulent thoughts and fears. "Concentrate on learning your sign language, Weasley. This will all be sorted out before the week is over. My father will realize that he's being an idiot and apologize to my mother. They'll fight some more and then everything will go back to normal. Well…normal except for the fact that I'm apparently getting a brother or sister out of the deal."

Ripping out the piece of paper he'd just scribbled on Christopher shoved it towards the Slytherin.

Taking the note Scorpius read it and smiled just a little as he looked up to meet the werewolf's gaze. "Good point."

Shifting over to read what the note said Al's lips twitched as he read. "So the bright side to all this is that he'll be moving out of his parents place when school's over so he won't be stuck living with a baby he'd be expected to babysit, change, and generally cater to."

"Which won't be the case if his parents don't get back together." Gellert pointed out, never having been one to appreciate the importance of a silver lining in bad times. Looking for one indicated you were too weak to face the whole cloud. "His mother might even expect him to let them move in with him after school is over so that he can take over the father role his old man's trying to avoid."

Albus shook his head at his boyfriend, marveling at the man's innate ability to make a bad situation even worse without even trying. "Bad boy. Don't scare the Slytherin."

"You like that I'm bad." Gellert countered, taking one of the redhead's hands in his so that he could bring it to his lips. "And I'm not automatically bad because I refuse to humor him. I'm just being the voice of reason."

"I'm going to be sick." Scorpius muttered as he leaned forward and set his head in his folded arms.

Rubbing the blond back in long, circular strokes Al glared at his best friend's boyfriend before looking over at the bemused redhead that was supposed to be his best friend. "Get your man to behave or stop talking, I don't care which. My Uncle Ron has more sensitivity."

"Some people just can't handle the truth."

"Turn into Jack Nicholson and I'll have to break up with you." Albus informed his lover with a small smile before flicking the blond in the forehead. "Now stop making a bad situation worse before Al emotionally blackmails me into shutting you up." That said Albus turned his attention to his best friend's ex boyfriend. "Personally I think that you're right, Scorpius. Your father is stubborn, and not the type to admit it when he's wrong, but he truly does love his wife and you. And since he does have the intelligence to realize he'll lose both of you if he doesn't man up I'm fairly confident that within the week he'll apologize to her."

He might not have been overly fond of Wimbledon, but Scorpius had to admit that he felt a little better knowing that the brainiac thought that his parents would be back together that soon. The redhead had an uncanny understanding of the human mind and was scary good at predicting the thoughts and actions of others. Well everyone but Gellert, but that was no surprise. No on in their right mind would want to understand the workings of his blond roommate's mind. At least not completely. That would be a guaranteed nightmare.

"Time for us all to eat our dinner." Al announced, pretty sure that they were doing more harm then good. Worse, he was pretty sure the others weren't even trying to depress Scorpius. "We'll give Mr. Malfoy a week and if he hasn't come to his senses…then we'll see what we can do to give him a wake up call. With Scorpius's permission." The Gryffindor added with a commanding look in Domi's direction.

Since everyone was worried and it would annoy him to have to pretend he really cared for any period of time Gellert met his longtime roommate's gaze. "I'll talk to him if you want."

If it was possible Scorpius paled even more. "No thank you."

"Well I offered."

)

Lying in his bed that night Al wished he knew what to say to the man currently lying in the bunk under his own. He couldn't say that he understood how the other man was feeling, because he didn't. How could he? His parents were still together. Of course they fought, all couples did, but he couldn't ever remember actively fearing that they would separate or divorce. That his family was a unit was something he'd always taken for granted as a given. And he could lie and bed and try to imagine all he wanted, but Al had a feeling his thoughts weren't coming close to how it really felt to currently be in Scorpius's shoes.

But maybe it was something like how he'd felt when Scorpius had dumped him, Al considered, remembering that agony well. When you suddenly realized that the future you'd been planning for yourself was no longer going to happen whether you liked it or not. Was in fact completely out of your hands. It hurt like hell to have to face a future without someone you'd considered vital to your happiness in it...or not a part of it the way you'd expected, the Gryffindor silently corrected. And your parents, well they were supposed to be your rock, the people you could always turn to in times of trouble. The constant, loving force that held your family together no matter what happened. And when parents ended their relationship…well that safe rock split in half and became a hell of a lot more unstable and untrustworthy.

Because if you're parents could stop loving each other…then maybe they could stop loving you too.

Scorpius's parents loved their son but he would still be stuck in the middle if they split up. He'd still have to see and deal with their pain and anger, still have to balance his time between the two so that neither felt slighted or overly favored. Holidays and other special occasions became minefields, and what had been would always haunt them all.

And lying in bed, trying to figure out how Scorpius was feeling was just plain stupid, Al decided as he sat up in bed, throwing off his covers. He was never going to get to sleep this way and there was just no damn point in both of them worrying separately when they could be worrying together. That they weren't a couple anymore didn't matter…not if there was a chance that him being close would help the other man.

Being as quiet as he could Al climbed down from his bunk and down to the floor, carefully pulling back the curtain around the other man's bed just in case Scorpius had somehow managed to fall asleep in spite or everything. The blond's back was to him, a still form under the covers, but Al knew the answer in his gut without having to ask.

Crawling across the covers the Gryffindor shifted under the blankets and then scooted over so that he could mold his body up against Scorpius's, wrapping his arms around the other man's waist as he silently offered what comfort his presence could give.

Scorpius was silent and didn't move for several minutes, and then, just when Al was beginning to think he'd been wrong to rashly force his presence on the other man, the former Slytherin reached up and placed his hands over Al's, lacing their fingers together in a tight grip.

"What will I do if my father refuses to admit he's wrong? Or he waits so long that my mother won't forgive him for the things he said?"

"Albus and Gellert are geniuses, and Domi, Victoire and Flora have been manipulating men since they were in their cradles. And you know that no one can set a man straight the way Andromeda can. I'm not quite sure what Teddy, Christopher, and I can do, but we'll think of some way to help you guys fix this. We'll all do what we can. And if that's not enough…then you love them and learn from their mistakes when you make your own family."

Scorpius's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Because Malfoys are so bloody good at family relationships."

"There have been worse. And when push comes to shove you Malfoys are there for each other."

"My grandmother hasn't been there for Andromeda once since she was disowned." Scorpius countered, determined to be pessimistic. "And we're as likely to put each other in dangerous as we are to save one of our own. We care way too much about our name and how others perceive us, to the point where we do incredibly stupid and prideful things that only get us into more trouble. We-."

"Hush. That's enough. Serious cynicism is Gellert's forte, not yours. And you're only saying those things because you think it's better to anticipate the worst, rather then hope for the best."

"Blind optimism is a Potter's forte, not mine."

Al's lips twitched. "I wouldn't call it blind optimism per say. It's more obstinate stubbornness on an epic level."

It was weak, but Scorpius had to chuckle a little at that.

"So close your eyes, go to sleep, and tomorrow we'll start plotting." Al squeezed the other man's fingers, determined to get it into the man's head that he wasn't alone in this. "Things will be better then, you'll see. And if they're not…well then I'll convince Victoire to pay you a visit so you two can bitch each other out."

Squeezing the man's fingers back Scorpius felt like a baby for asking, but couldn't seem to stop himself either.

"Will you stay with me?"

Al shifted so that he could place a tender kiss on Scorpius's pale neck, nuzzling his face over the spot. "I'm not going anywhere, promise."


	3. Wakeful Thoughts

Wakeful Thoughts

Scorpius awoke to the unfamiliar feeling of being snuggled against someone. Someone, the blond slowly realized as he fought off sleep, was sleeping beside him. And that someone's even breathing was stirring his hair, the other man's arms wrapped around him while their legs were tangled together under the covers. Going very still Scorpius didn't breath at all as he tried to figure out how he'd come to be in his present situation. Then it all came rushing back to him and Scorpius was torn between enjoying the fact that he was in Al's arms and the pain as he remembered why the Gryffindor had joined him in his bed in the first place.

Pleasure and pain, the story of their relationship together, Scorpius thought darkly as he forced himself to relax, settling back against the other man as he closed his eyes once more. Reality sucked, and at least lying here with Al like this, he could pretend for a while that his dreams were the real reality, and that he and the other man were still together and always would be.

Far too soon for the blond's liking Al began to stir against him, the Gryffindor's grip tightening and then loosening as the man clued into where he was and who he was holding.

"Sorry." He wasn't really, but it seemed like he should apologize just in case Scorpius was annoyed by their present situation but didn't want to say so.

"It's all right. You tend to cuddle in your sleep. I knew that." Scorpius said softly, staring straight ahead as he waited to see what the man would say or do now that they were both awake and aware. He wouldn't be the one to pull away, even though that was probably the smart thing to do. Not today, anyway.

"That I do." Al agreed as he stayed where he was, enjoying the calm intimacy of the moment. It had been a long time since they been quite so at ease with each other, and they'd certainly never shared a bed together before. It figured that it had taken a personal emergency to bring this about, Al thought ruefully.

"Feeling any better?" The Gryffindor asked after several moments of silence.

Quiet for a couple heartbeats Scorpius finally shrugged his shoulders ever so slightly. "At the moment I'd say I've felt worse. That's about as positive as I can be at the moment."

"That's probably more positive than I'd be in your shoes."

Scorpius's lips curved ever so slightly. "Your father would never break up with your mother. He'd be too afraid of what her brothers and her mother would do to him. And she'd be too afraid of what the rest of the wizarding world would do to her to ever break up with the Chosen One."

Al chuckled, agreeing with the Slytherin one hundred percent on that point. It certainly was a comfort to know that his parents would have those additional incentives to stay together.

Scorpius smiled a little too. He was glad that the man holding him so gently would never know what it was to be in his present situation. Because being him right now sucked even more than it usually did. And that was saying something.

And since his current line of thinking was more than somewhat depressing Scorpius pointed out the obvious. "We should probably start getting ready to head for breakfast. The other two will be out of bed soon too." Both Gellert and Wimbledon tended to stay in bed until they had to, but his original roommate was getting up for breakfast these days. He preferred not to think about why the two were sharing a bed.

"Yeah, I guess so." Slowly withdrawing his arms from around the other man's waist Al sat up and watched as the blonde did the same. Reaching out Al smiled as he smoothed down the man's slight bed head, which wasn't as bad as his but still pretty adorable. "Good morning, by the way."

"Good morning to you too."

With sincere regret the two separated, Al heading up to his bunk to get changed for the day while Scorpius remained in his to do the same. Both were dressed and ready to head out when their roommates came out of their bed, thankfully dressed as well and ready to go. The four collected their book bags and then they headed for breakfast together, none of them talking as they ignored the chatter of the students around them.

Arriving at the hall in good time the four took their now customary seats, Christopher and Domi soon joining them with tired good mornings.

When it was time for the owls to deliver their mail for the morning Scorpius had already steeled himself for the blow when the large eagle owl swooped down in front of him. His father had probably traveled to a post office nearby so that the news would get to him promptly without his male parent actually having to come to the school and deal with his son's reaction to his parents splitting up.

His father was great at avoiding stuff he didn't want to deal with through the mail.

Opening the envelope addressed in him in his father's handwriting Scorpius read the letter through, wondering absently if his grandfather had proofread the letter before allowing his son to see it on its way. It sounded more like the family patriarch than it did his father. Or maybe he just wanted to believe that had his father written it there would be more emotion and feeling in the message.

"How bad is it?" Al asked from the man's side, having to restrain himself from grabbing the letter from the blond's hand so that he could see what the man's idiot father had written. He couldn't see how the older man could argue his side successfully.

Folding the letter back up Scorpius shoved it into his robe pocket without letting any of them see it. "About what I expected it to say." He didn't want to get into it, even with someone as close to him as Al.

Giving the blond's shoulder a quick squeeze Al nodded his acceptance and then turned his attention to his breakfast, squashing the urge to ask to read the letter himself.

The Gryffindor had just finished buttering a slice of toast when another package dropped in front of Scorpius, surprising them all. "Who's this one from?"

Scorpius studied the package closely, wariness in his eyes before he recognized the writing on the paper covered delivery. "It looks like Teddy's handwriting on the front." Peeling back the paper Scorpius retrieved the folded piece of white parchment that sat on top of the box that contained whatever his cousin had sent him. Unfolding the note Scorpius broke out into a wide, tender smile as he read the words written in crayon across the parchment.

Someone had obviously written out the words in pencil and Flora, with some success, had drawn over said words with her various crayons to spell, 'DON'T BE SAD, UNCLE SCOR. I LOVE YOU'. At the bottom were a bunch of Xs and Os as well as Flora's unique signature, complete with a daisy in the place of the O. All around the words were hearts, stars, rainbows and more flowers, plus two stick figures holding hands that were supposed to represent the two of them apparently.

Smiling as well Al slugged an arm over the man's shoulder. "Nice."

"Very nice." Scorpius agreed huskily, wishing the little girl was there so that he could give her a nice big hug. Retrieving his book bag from under his seat Scorpius carefully folded the piece of parchment again, sliding it between the pages of one of his textbooks so that nothing could happen to it. Safely stowing the bag back under his seat Scorpius turned his attention back to the box he had yet to open.

Lifting the top he laughed as he saw what else Flora had made for him.

Al laughed too when he caught sight of what was in the box. "She always goes nuts with the chocolate chips."

Turning the box so that the others could see Scorpius displayed the chocolate chip biscuits, which were probably half dough, half chocolate chips. Obviously made by Flora, everyone who'd been on the receiving end of some of her biscuits knew. In Flora's world enough was never enough chocolate wise.

"I'll share, don't worry." Scorpius assured them, feeling very warm and loved at the moment, and wanted to share the feeling. Plus he was liable to get sick if he ate them all, especially given how much of the treats was chocolate.

Domi shook her head. "They're your comfort food, Malfoy. Just don't eat them all right away or you'll get sick."

Scorpius raised a surprised eyebrow. "Normally you like the idea of me getting sick, Weasley. Don't tell me you're going soft on me?"

"As if that could ever happen." She sniffed in derision. "I just don't want to risk you throwing up on my already ugly uniform and making it that much more hideous. Knowing you you'd aim for me."

Inclining his head Scorpius didn't disagree, though he knew better.

)

Walking down the hallway on the way to their first class together Domi deliberately cuddled close to her boyfriend, arm in arm as she looked up at him. "Is this castle of yours always so bloody cold? It's only the first week of November and it's already so cold. How am I supposed to keep you wrapped around my little finger if I have to bundle up every day like I'm an Eskimo?"

Lips twitching Christopher lowered his head to brush said lips against the top of her head.

"I know, I'm so hot that even dressed as an Eskimo I kick the drooping arses of all the other girls here but still…it annoys me on a primitive level to have to tone down my sex appeal just so that I don't end up as a human icicle."

If there was one thing you could say about Dominique Weasley, it was that she never lacked for self confidence. She had more than any ten people should really have, Christopher thought, marveling over her even as he enjoyed her. He was never bored around her, that was for sure.

Letting go of his arm Domi put her hands on her hips and gave him a 'don't mess with me' look. "Something I'm saying is amusing you?"

Pulling out his notebook and pencil Christopher scrawled out a quick note. 'You're always amusing me, Silly'.

"Oh really." Now there was definite heat in the blonde's eyes. "You think I'M silly? Because from where I'm standing, Furhead, you're the silly one to think you can call me silly and get away with it."

The werewolf's lips curved into a smile, not taking offense in the least.

"Uhm, Christopher, when she's making that face at you you should probably run. Away. Fast. Like your life depends upon it."

Turning his head to meet the other man's gaze Christopher smiled at the redhead and signed his response. 'I think I can handle anything she has to dish out'. And someone had to get it through her head that while she really was amazing that didn't change the fact that the world was not hers for the manipulating. And that while he was a dog he didn't obey anyone unless he damn well felt like it or had no other choice.

Albus shook his head at the werewolf. "You wouldn't be the first to think that, my friend. And be horribly, horribly wrong about that. But I salute you for trying and wish you all the best in your endeavor. Sincerely."

At Albus's side Gellert rolled his eyes over the foolishness of it all.

"To think what? What endeavor?" Domi wanted to know, not at all pleased that they were probably talking about her. She had a feeling she wouldn't like what they were saying either. And while it went against the grain to punish her Alby the girl had no problem with whacking their heads together if necessary.

Knowing her well Albus gave her his most innocent and charming of smiles. "I was just telling him that it was in his best interests to take you seriously when you threaten him."

Domi nodded decisively. "You would do well to listen to my Alby."

"If you're a real man you'll show her whose boss." Was Gellert's opinion, deliberately adding fuel to the fire while his lover looked at him like he was seriously considering whacking him upside the head. "What? They're both so alpha they're libel to kill each other if she doesn't get it through her thick skull that he's not going to bow and scrape to her the way other idiots have done in the past. Not to mention the fact that if she were to succeed in molding him to her specifications she wouldn't want him anymore anyway."

Christopher nodded in complete agreement.

"So you're arguing with me to keep me interested in you?" Domi wanted to know.

Such an ego you have, Christopher thought affectionately as he leaned down to place a kiss against her hair again.

Domi considered this and then linked their arms again. "Well that's alright then."

)

When Al had a free period the Gryffindor headed off to a deserted hallway and leaning back against the stone wall opened the letter he'd received that morning as well. It had been one of the last to arrive and he'd simply taken it from the owl and shoved it into his robe pocket so that he could concentrate on Scorpius's family situation. But on the way to his first class he'd pulled the letter out long enough to read who it was from and that had been more than enough to have him shoving it back into his pocket again. Thankfully he was pretty sure that Albus had been too busy talking to Gellert at breakfast to notice the delivery. If luck was with him he wouldn't have to lie about who it was from later.

But what did Mickey want?

Unfolding the single sheet of paper Al's eyes narrowed and his expression went from curious to seriously pissed off as he absorbed the information.

Once he'd finished reading the Gryffindor refolded the letter and stuck it back in the envelope, now faced with a moral dilemma. On the one hand he'd promised Albus not to see Jordan again since the last time he'd been face to face with the man he'd tried his level best to beat the football playing gobshite to a bloody pulp. But on the other hand if he didn't show up someone else would suffer as a result which wasn't good either.

Though he hadn't exactly promised never to deliberately see Jordan again, Al silently mused to himself as he rhythmically tapped the letter against his arm. He'd promised not to seek the man out in order to beat him up again or meet Jordan alone. So if he took someone with him, someone to keep him in line, he could claim that he'd kept his word when Albus found out what he'd done, the Gryffindor decided.

Albus would find out after all, Mickey would probably spill the beans.

But who should he take with him? And what excuse was he going to give Albus for him disappearing for a few hours on Sunday?

A good excuse didn't come to mind, but Al soon figured out who he could bring that would meet his requirements. Though whether the man would be willing to come was a question he didn't know the answer to. Christopher was a hard to read and understand kind of guy. If the werewolf could come at all, the Gryffindor added mentally, since he didn't know what the rules were on this continent for the other man.

So at their next class together, while they were supposed to be taking notes, Al slipped the werewolf a scrap piece of parchment asking the werewolf if he had plans for Sunday.

Christopher turned his head and subtly shook it no.

'Do you play/like watching football? I mean the British version of the game'. Al added that last part to the note since he often got confused thanks to Albus's father, who was a big American football fan. In his opinion the sports world needed to decide once and for all what was football and what was soccer. It could get damn annoying depending on the nationality of the person you were talking to.

The man wanted him to go to a football game with him? Definitely confused Christopher pulled out his quill and scrawled out a reply. 'I've never played but I know the rules and I've been to games with my father. It's a fairly simple but entertaining enough sport. Why?'

'From the sounds of it my team is having problems finding decent players. Bringing someone who could possibly play would be an added bonus'. Al wrote back. 'We'd just be gone three hours or so, and you can't tell Domi, Albus or Gellert about it. It's a long story, too long to write out now but I'll tell you later'.

Very intrigued now Christopher considered the request carefully. He'd never played football with anyone before, he wasn't the team player type even if anyone had been interested in playing with him. He would probably be good at it, he was naturally athletic, and he was curious to learn more about the situation his girl's cousin was in. Plus the other man would owe him, which could come in handy down the road. Domi would make sure of that, the werewolf thought with a small smile.

'Alright. I'll go. And I won't mention to anyone your plans.'

'Thanks. Appreciate it'.


	4. A Kind of Game

Note: Remember this is European football, which is soccer in North America

A Kind of Game

So their cover stories were that Christopher was going to visit his father for a few hours and Al's was on a trip to the gym since that wouldn't interest anyone else. He had a feeling that he'd hurt Scorpius's feelings a little by up and leaving him alone for a few hours instead of continuing to take the other man's mind off of things, but there was just no way in hell he was going to let Jordan anywhere near Scorpius. That would be bad any time, but given the week the former Slytherin had had it would more than end badly. As badly as it would end if Albus were to discover where they were before they got back from the football game, which was possible since they'd had to put their true destinations on the sign out sheet. According to Christopher he'd be in serious shite if he lied about that and the look on the werewolf's face had made it clear that was putting it nicely.

They'd transported themselves to a wooded area near the college and as they walked out of that and towards their destination Al explained the situation in more detail, as promised. He hadn't earlier for fear that the man might back out or feel the need to mention what they were doing to Albus or Domi.

"So basically the star of the opposing team is my ex and he's…well he's an egotistical arse who thinks he's all that and a bag of crispers. Jordan's team will be made up of his fellow players so we're facing guys who are good enough at the sport to play it at a college level. Winning against them will be…difficult to say the least. Our team is made up of a few blokes on that level but the majority of our comrades are the type that play just for the fun of it on the weekends. But we have to win, so do the best you can."

Not being a fool Christopher pulled out his notepad and posed his first of what he imagined would be many questions about what they were up to. 'What are we playing for?'

Reading the message Al's face shifted into determined lines. "If we win he has to leave Ciel Wilks the hell alone from now on no matter what the kid says or wants. If he wins he'll tell the kid about the wager of this game, hold the win over our heads for forever, AND get an undisclosed amount of money from the kid's brother."

'Who's Ciel Wilks?'

"The kid brother of our star player who used to play on Jordan's team but recently quit." Al answered. "Finn's brother apparently…bears a very strong resemblance to me and Jordan went after him as a result. He's wrapped the kid around his finger and is currently juggling said love struck boy with whoever else catches his fancy, which is standard for him. Kid won't see the truth and Finn's worried about what will happen when the truth hits. He asked me to help him out seeing as he knows facing off against me will throw Jordan off his game and that I have my own axe to grind."

Okay, they had to win the game. But given the character of this Jordan guy, 'Why would YOU date someone like that?'

Al's lips curved into a rueful, 'my stupid ego' grin. "Everyone was after me to date someone after Scorpius dumped me and I was so pissed over that that I decided to give them what they wanted regardless of the fact that I knew what an arsehole Jordan was. Came back to bite me in the arse of course, but putting him in his place and making him jump through my hoops was somewhat amusing for a while. Took my mind off of Scorpius, anyway."

He was Domi's cousin, so that made sense.

'Do you think we can win?'

"I'm hoping so." Was as optimistic as the Gryffindor could be given the skill he knew they'd soon be up against. And since that thinking would lose him the game before he started Al worked up a mischievous grin for the other man. "Though if we don't win…maybe Jordan's ego will swell up so much that his brain will just explode like a popped balloon. That would make the humiliation of losing to him actually worth it."

Christopher smiled in return.

)

A number of people slid out of the common room in fear, though many others stayed on the sidelines since they weren't the one Dominique Weasley was pissed off at. Though since the man responsible for her fury wasn't around many decided it was best to leave rather than stand in for the werewolf. Everyone agreed though that Christopher Worden had to really have balls of steel to both date and lie to the fearsome foreign exchange student.

Christopher's father, for his part, felt just awful about the whole thing since his dropping by had alerted his son's girlfriend to the fact that his son wasn't visiting him the way Christopher had apparently said he was. But his Christopher wasn't the cheating sort and he told her so, not that that seemed to make the slightest of dents in her 'I'm going to kill him' aura.

"Well this isn't good." Albus murmured as he tried to figure out how to calm her down.

"Bet you ten galleons he's with Al." Gellert murmured back, enjoying the show.

Domi's head whipped around, having caught his opinion. "With Al? What makes you think he is with my cousin?" She demanded to know, her eyes fierce as they flashed blue fire.

He thought the answer obvious, but he supposed that even someone as off the charts brilliant as himself could be occasionally forgiven for assuming that the general population had some basic intelligence. "Because why else would Potter have left Malfoy this weekend to just work out a little somewhere outside of school? Something important had to have come up and he left the same time as Christopher. Think about it."

Insult flashed across Albus's face, both at the idea that his best friend hadn't come to him for help and because he hadn't realized the significance of Al leaving until Gellert had pointed it out.

Looking back and forth between the various teenagers involved Christopher's father suggested that they go check out the sign out sheet since his son would have had to accurately note where he was going. Silently he thought it for the best that the girl saw that his son wasn't cheating ASAP so that her anger wouldn't have a chance to build with time. Her Veela blood was already showing around the edges at it was.

Seizing upon this idea Domi headed out of the common room with her boyfriend's father at her heels, Gellert, Albus and Scorpius trailing behind, the latter two wanting to know if they needed to seek Al out to help him in some way.

As soon as he heard the destination listed in the school's book it was all Albus could do not to join Domi in her temper tantrum. Turning to look at his lover the redhead had to work to keep his anger and worry in check. "It looks like I'll have to take a rain check on that game of Wizarding Chess. I need to go to London."

"Why?"

"Because Al is an idiot, that's why."

"Do you suppose he asked my sweetie along to help him shove a football up Jordan's arse?" Domi asked, calming down now that she knew Christopher had lied to her for her cousin's sake. Not that she wasn't going to make him pay horribly for lying to her, because she was, but she'd stop short of psychologically damaging him now. Probably.

Albus shook his head, though he'd love to see Jordan get his arse kicked. Just by someone other than Al. "No, I'd imagine that Christopher is there because he's strong enough to pull Al off Jordan should they come to blows. Again. What I'm going to find out is what the hell he's doing going near that bastard again." That Al had lied to him made him just that much angrier, so that Albus was giving serious thought to refusing to let his friend borrow his notes for the rest of the year.

"Well I am going with you." Domi announced, crossing her arms decisively. "And if Jordan is giving him trouble I will take him down and humiliate him in front of all his stupid friends if they are there."

"I'd like to go too." Scorpius said softly.

So in the end they all went, Christopher's father going along out of sheer curiosity and some worry over his son's well being.

)

The four teenagers and lone parent arrived close to the same spot Al and Christopher had apparated to two hours before them. From there they headed directly for the football pitch where a game was well underway despite the fact that the ground was wet and muddy from the recent rain that had left the bleachers slippery and covered in small puddles. It was the bleachers the group headed to as they had spotted a familiar cluster of people close to the bottom, Scorpius more than a little shocked over the fact that his mother was one of them.

Wearing a bright yellow slicker and rubber boots Flora was too busy running up and down the bleachers yelling insults at the other team to notice the new arrivals, but Teddy, Victoire, Andromeda, and Mrs. Malfoy all greeted the new arrivals.

"We didn't know you guys were coming." Teddy commented as he covertly used his wand to dry a place in front of them so that they'd have a place to sit, smiling off their looks of thanks.

"We didn't know we were coming. What are you doing here?" Albus asked as he tore his eyes away from the pitch, having spotted Al there. And Jordan. The bastard.

Teddy gave the redhead a rueful look. "Mickey sent me a letter telling me that Al was going to be here and why. He thought it best that I be around just in case history repeated itself and I needed to keep him in line. He didn't know Christopher was coming. The rest of my lovely family either invited themselves along or were invited for the show."

"So Christopher came along to play goal?" Mr. Worden asked, his surprise and pleasure evident in his voice, having caught sight of his son playing net. For so long his son hadn't had any friends, he was delighted that the boy was making an effort to be more sociable.

"Well they thought it for the best given that he's apparently never played before." Victoire informed the older man with a smile. "He is absolutely amazing by the way, the other team hasn't been able to get a single goal past him. Their coach has already come over here to ask us which school he plays for because he wants to recruit him. I'm Victoire Lupin by the way. And you are?"

While Christopher's father was introduced to Teddy, Andromeda and Victoire Scorpius made his way over to take a seat beside his mother. "Hello, Mother."

"Hello, Darling." Working up a smile for him Astoria nodded her head in the direction of the pitch. "It's not as good as Quidditch, but it certainly has its own appeal, this Muggle game. Your friends are both playing very well."

"YOU STUPID BOOGIEHEADS! QUIT STEALING THE BALL FROM MY UNCLE AL, YOU JERKS!"

"And Flora's been providing the most interesting commentary." Astoria added with a genuine smile this time. She'd grown fond of the little girl already, and could only hope that if she had a girl she'd be just as adorable.

Chuckling, Scorpius took her hand and laced their fingers together. "She does have a way with words."

Squeezing his hand Astoria figured that she had to ask, even though she was loathed to know the answer to it. "Have you heard from your father?"

"I got a letter from him that had grandfather's fingerprints all over it."

She'd expected as much, and considered the confirmation just one more reason to not regret slapping her husband as hard as she could when she'd left him. Obviously it had been too much to hope that the slap would have knocked some sense into Draco. But working up a calm expression for her son Astoria placed her free hand over Scorpius's. "You know, when that coach came over, he was flirting with me a little."

Mouth opening and closing Scorpius didn't know what to say to that.

Astora laughed at his expression, and it felt good to laugh. "I chose to take it as a compliment, even if he is a Muggle."

"If Father knew a Muggle had hit on you he'd hit the roof."

"Why do you think I didn't immediately shut him down for daring to think he was good enough to approach me?"

Scorpius looked at his mother. "That's very Slytherin of you."

"Thank you, Darling."

)

"YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF STUPIDHEADS AND MY UNCLE AL AND UNCLE CHIRSTOPHER ARE GOING TO KICK YOUR BUMS SO HARD YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN FOR A WEEK, YOU PANSIES!"

"This is why we very rarely take her to real sporting events." Teddy drawled out, thinking that his daughter rather resembled a yellow gopher as she popped in and out of the bleachers, in one place one moment and then gone to the other side in what seemed like the blink of an eye to heckle the other team.

"She's going to fall if she doesn't slow down." Andromeda pointed out, the water slicking over the metal bleachers only increasing the odds. "Flora, you can insult them from over here, please."

Normally she would have argued, but Flora knew better than to try when GG used THAT tone of voice.

So with a small sigh she turned and started walking back towards them, taking a step up and promptly slipping, falling backwards to sprawl in stunned silence between the two benches.

Everyone leaned forward and watched as Flora's stunned expression slowly turned to one of startled pain. "Owwwwie! Maman!"

"I've got her." Hurrying to pick Flora up Albus cradled her close as he brought her over to Victoire, since in such situations a mother's touch was always best. She wasn't badly injured after all, she just wanted to be petted and showered with sympathy for her minor pains. If she'd really been hurt everyone would have been made aware of it.

"Her speed kept her from falling earlier. Interesting." Gellert commented once Albus retook his seat.

"She's a tough one." Was Albus's opinion, not surprised when less than two minutes later Flora was again running around on the bleachers, hurling her childish and creative insults at the top of her little lungs at the other team. It was what made Flora Flora.

)

Al took heart at the sound of Flora's voice carrying over the pitch, having seen her go down on the bleachers earlier. Obviously she hadn't been badly hurt, but Flora wasn't Flora at a sports event if she wasn't yelling insults at the opposing team. She'd gotten her picture in the Prophet more than once because of it. They loved her over there.

And now that he didn't have to worry about her he could turn his attention to playing the game, which was going his team's way but Christopher had to be getting tired by now. He'd lost track of the number of balls Jordan had deliberately kicked right at the other man's head, obviously not liking the idea that Christopher was friends with his ex. Typical Jordan.

What Jordan did two minutes later when the other man crowded in on him was also typical of him.

He copped a feel.

Green eyes flashing at the unmistakable feel of his arse being felt up Al managed to break free from the other man, the two fighting for the ball once more as another member of Jordan's team joined them in an attempt to take the ball too, the ensuing battle ending in a call of foul on the part of Jordan's teammate.

Toeing his foot under the ball Al lightly kicked it up and then used his knee to drive the football into his ex boyfriend's crotch, smiling evilly when the man's eyes all but crossed as he bent over. "Opps, did that hurt? I figured since you don't have any bollocks I should give you at least one."

Jordan's teammate tried not to laugh. "Uhm…it's your ball to kick."

"Good point, guess I'll have to castrate the poor bastard…again." And picking up the ball Al headed to the sidelines to kick the ball back into play, feeling a lot better now.


	5. Sexy When Pissed

Sexy When Pissed

The game going on was a brutal one, the superior skills of the uniformed players getting them nowhere only because of Christopher. The werewolf was extremely fast and his instincts sent him in the right direction at the pivotal moment again and again to their extreme vexation. The rest of Christopher's team was trying of course, but they were obviously outmatched and were only winning by one goal thanks to their goalie's mad skills. If they were being honest the one shot they'd gotten in had been a result of the lousy visibility brought on by a quick squall at the start of the game that had had all of them unsure at first that the ball had even gone in.

"They're all going to get sick." Andromeda stated from the stands, shaking her head at the stupidity of men. "Still damp from that rain, pushing their bodies this way, and dressed inappropriately for the weather on top of everything else." The sound she made low in her throat said plainly that she thought none of the boys had a lick of sense.

Teddy consulted his pocket watch. "Well in another five minutes they should be calling for a break, Grandmother. They can get dried off a little then."

Stopping in the midst of formulating new insults that she had yet to hurl at the opposing team, Flora turned and hurried to stand in front of her father. "They're gonna have a break in five minutes? They'll stop playing?"

Teddy nodded, feeling a sense of impeding doom when a smile he knew very well spread across his daughter's face. It was the smile her mother got just before she cold bloodedly tore someone to shreds.

Making a decidedly evil, very Black sound of glee Flora hurriedly made her way over to her mother's bag, rooting around in it before she pulled out the large, hard covered anthology of Robert Munsch stories she'd insisted she just had to bring with her. Clutching the book against her chest the little girl hopped down the stands with a look in her eye that spoke of great anticipation.

Gellert watched her with interest, leaning forward in his seat. "Oh this is going to be good."

Albus looked at the retreating Flora and then shot his lover a questioning, slightly worried look. "What do you think she's up to?"

"I don't know…but it's going to be good."

"Do you think we should make her stay with us?" Victoire asked her husband, even though she was very curious as to what her darling baby was up to and didn't believe in restraining her daughter if the intended victim deserved her wrath. And since Jordan was on that field….

Visibly torn Teddy looked over at his grandmother questioningly.

The smile that slid across the older woman's face was also pure Black. "Let her go. Al, Michael, and Christopher will make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble."

)

The whistle blew to signal that it was time for a break, Al silently giving thanks even as he prayed that he wouldn't just keel over into the muddy pitch and die. Damn but he hurt everywhere. It even hurt to breath at this point. He was going to have more than a few bruises, and having Jordan so completely show him up was just icing on his unhappy cake. Of course he would totally own the jerk if they were playing Quidditch, but that did little to soothe his ego for the moment. Thank the powers that be that Christopher had agreed to play with them or there'd be no point in continuing to play.

"Time to head in then." Mickey wheezed out as he braced his hands on his knees, thinking it a sad thing that at twenty one he was already too old for this. As a fellow wizard he wasn't the football playing type, but he was Jordan's cousin so he knew the game and had wanted to help put the bastard in his place, hence him recruiting Al and playing against his cousin. "That guy with Albus is the one he's dating, then?"

"Yup, so don't hit on him or you're dead. Not joking." Al got out, eyes narrowing when he sensed a familiar presence coming towards him, the bastard twirling the ball around his finger just to piss him off.

"Now don't you two start." Mickey began, moving to stand between the two, holding up his hands palm up to both of them. "Bloodshed is only allowed during the game, and even then it should be avoided. However much someone might deserve to be trampled into this fucking pitch." He added with a warning look in Jordan's direction.

"Go somewhere else, Cous. Let the adults talk." Was Jordan's suggestion.

"If only the adults are staying shouldn't you be the one leaving?" Al shot back, though his temper, for the moment, was reined in well enough. He didn't want to lose it in front of his family again, especially over someone like his ex. And Scorpius was here. "Now I for one want to get out of this shirt and into something dry so if you'll excuse me…"

Showing the speed that made him so lethal on the pitch Jordan was at Al's side in a flash as the other man started towards the bleachers. "Want some help with that, Luv?"

Al's eyes were cold, green ice. "I thought I made it clear to you by now that you'll never have the privilege of removing my clothes, ever. And why you're so obsessed with it is beyond me given how you like to brag about how many poor sods you've shagged already. I can't be the only one to ever refuse to sleep with you."

The look in the other man's eyes had Al's widening. "Oh for fuck sakes, really? Damn…and so you continue to completely destroy my faith in the basic intelligence of the human race. I'll turn into Gellert before I now it."

From behind Mickey snorted in amusement, Jordan sending his cousin a dark look over his shoulder before turning his attention back to the only man to not only refuse to shag him, but the only one to ever dump him on top of that. He was obsessed with getting Al Potter naked and under him and he was man enough to admit it.

But the reason that had never happened was currently sitting in the bleachers, the footballer thought darkly as he looked towards the stands again. He'd recognized the blond even though they'd never formerly met; the Malfoy genes prominent and telling. That and his use of the other man in his plot to make Al his last spring, which had ended with Al going berserk and trying to beat him near to death. That had indeed not been one of his best plans, Jordan silently admitted, though he still didn't know how Al had figured out he was being tricked.

As they neared the bleachers all three men watched as Flora came hurrying over towards them with a large book in her arms, looking absolutely adorable in her rain attire, pigtails flying behind her.

"Hi, Uncle Al, hi, Mickey. Uncle Jordan," Flora gave him a big smile as she came to a stop in front of him. "wanna see my book?"

While Al puzzled over her strange behavior with a sense of foreboding, Jordan smiled and told her he'd be delighted to see her book, thinking to win points for paying attention to the kid.

"You're too tall, Uncle Jordan." Flora giggled, crocking her finger. "You gots to come down."

None the wiser Jordan got down on one knee.

Switching her hold on her book so that she was holding the bottom of it with both hands Flora smiled widely and then swung, bitch slapping the man across the face as hard as she could with her book, causing Jordan to fall back to sprawl in a stunned stupor on the pitch.

"THAT'S FOR BEING A MANWHORE, YOU GOBSHITE!"

Sticking her nose in the air as she tucked her book under one arm Flora marched over to her uncle's side, took his hand, and then started tugging him along with her towards where their family waited, Al struggling to stay upright as his whole body shook with barely suppressed laughter as he grinned down at his niece in utter adoration.

"Thanks, Flora." Al choked out, having to speak a little louder than normal since behind him Mickey was laughing hysterically behind them, doubled over with mirth.

Flora smiled up at him sweetly, quite pleased with herself. "You're welcome."

Letting go of Flora's hand when they'd reached the small group waiting for them Al caught the towel Christopher threw over at him, running in over his mushed hair while he ruefully met Albus's gaze, knowing he was in trouble there. "I had a good reason and…well I haven't put the bastard in the hospital yet, I think I should get points for that."

Albus just crossed his arms and gave Al a look that said he was, indeed, in trouble.

While Al and his man were having a little chat about the matter of Potter's lying Gellert moved over to stand by Flora and held out a galleon towards her.

Eyes going wide Flora took the shiny coin, admiring it for a moment before shoving it into her pocket, not wanting to risk him taking it back. "How come you gave that to me?"

"I thought you'd earned it."

"Thank you so much for encouraging her to go around maiming people." Albus called over, having caught the exchange so that now he was frowning disapprovingly in Gellert's direction instead of Al's.

"You're welcome."

The smart remark he'd been about to make died on Albus's tongue when he caught sight of Jordan coming towards them, obviously trying to pretend that he wasn't hurt and possibly seeing double. Without a moment's pause the redhead put himself between his family and the other man, his eyes flashing and burning, promising untold horror and pain if the other man thought to so much as speak a word to anyone of Albus's acquaintance while in his presence.

In that moment anyone who'd ever been in the presence of Albus Dumbledore when he was cold-bloodedly pissed off would have looked at the redhead youth and known Albus Wimbledon for exactly who he'd once been.

A man even the darkest of all wizards had feared.

Stumbling back at the force of the other man's larger than life, deadly as hell aura, Jordan did his best not to make it obvious as he turned to go give his team a little pep talk instead of trying to talk to Al again.

Having moved to get a good look at his love, wanting to get a sense of the situation and a feel for whether it would benefit him to take down the Squib, Gellert's lips slowly curved into a very sexual, heated grin of pure, dark lust.

It had been far too long since he'd see his lover like this.

And since the little blight on society was running back to his friends for comfort, and he had no doubt that the rest of Potter's family could take care of his lover's best friend if necessary, Gellert latched onto Albus's arm and started dragging him towards the gated area that led from the pitch to the parking lot.

Losing his fierceness completely Albus opened his mouth to demand to know where he was being taken, the words dying in his throat as he caught the vibe his man was now giving off.

Oh. Oh my.

)

Watching them go Flora took out her coin to admire it, grinning as she thought of all the candy she could buy with it. She really liked her new uncle now, she decided as she looked up at her father questioningly. "Daddy, where are Uncle Alby and Uncle Gellert going? Are they going to get me some more money or candy?" She added with a hopeful gleam in her eyes. "I did fall down and it hurt loads."

No, honey, your uncles have gone off to screw each other's brains out on the first flat, indoor surface they find, Teddy silently answered her. And I really wish I wasn't getting mental images of that.

"They are just going off to plan strategy for dealing with Jordan, Bebe." Victoire told her daughter, coming to her husband's aid as she struggled not to smile.

"What's strat-ogy?"

"Come with me and I will explain."

Grinning as he watched Flora being led away by her parents, Christopher shook his head and then turned his attention to retrieving hit water bottle, ignoring the hot, piercing looks he was still getting from his girlfriend. She had yet to come near him, she was obviously waiting for him to come to her and prostrate himself at her feet, begging her forgiveness for what he'd done. When Al had introduced him to their team as Domi's boyfriend they'd all looked at him like he was a god for having managed to date her for so long.

He'd got the definite impression none of them considered themselves man enough to handle her.

He didn't know if he was man enough either…but he sure as hell wasn't going to let her break him.

"Uhm, Son…you really do need to go over there and apologize to her. With flowers, chocolates…hell with a girl that high maintenance a visit to the jeweler's isn't out of the question." Christopher's father informed his son in a voice meant for the boy's ears only.

'I'm not bribing her into forgiving me' Christopher signed back.

"You have to bribe her. It's the rules. Ask any woman and they'll tell you the same, Christopher."

'And how many times have you been married now, Father?'

The older man frowned good-naturedly. "That's hitting below the belt."

With a small smile Christopher reached out and patted his father on the shoulder, stowed his water bottle in his bag, and then retrieved the pen and sketchbook he was no doubt going to need momentarily. Walking over to his girlfriend, feeling more than one set of eyes on them, Christopher wrote a quick note inquiring as to just how mad she was at him.

"Start apologizing and I'll tell you when to stop."

So Christopher wrote the words I'm sorry on a page and then handed it to her. She could read it as many times as she wanted to.

Domi stared down at the piece of paper and then back at him. "You really don't know how this works, do you?"

Considering this Christopher glanced over at Al, who had come over to take his lashes and turn her anger onto himself. Catching the man's gaze Christopher lightly tossed the pad and then the pen to the other man, who caught both with ease. That done the werewolf smiled at his girl and jerking her up against him with one hand dove his free hand into her hair to hold her head in place as he lowered his own to show her just how well she'd taught him to snog since they'd started dating.

Lips twitching Al nodded his head in acknowledgement of the move before turning to go look at something else.

)

Frowning from her place on the bleachers Astoria turned her head, intending to ask her son about all the undercurrents erupting before her eyes. Eyes widening as she took in the look on Scorpius's face Astoria didn't know what to make of the fact that he was almost shaking, his hands so tightly clenched in his lap that she couldn't see how his nails couldn't be cutting into his palms. She'd never seen her son so angry before, and following his line of vision Astoria saw that her baby's fury was aimed towards the man who had done something that had resulted in Flora hitting him with a book and not being reprimanded for it.

Setting a hand over one of her son's Astoria kept her voice soothing as she asked him if he was all right.

Roughly Scorpius nodded, the curt motion the best he could manage since his focus was on remaining in his seat. He didn't have the right to go down there, to stake his claim, to take on his former boyfriend's ex for cheating on Al. Hadn't he hurt Al just as much after all? And if he was down there and that bastard came over there was no way he'd be able to rein himself in, even with his mother in attendance.

That would not be good.

Astoria didn't know a lot about her son's relationship with Al Potter. There had never been any real opportunity to observe the two together and mostly what she'd heard had been secondhand from her husband or snatches of mumbled explanations from Scorpius. But she did know that the Gryffindor had played a role in her son's insistence that he be transferred from Hogwarts.

Eyes flickering over to her husband's aunt Astoria decided then and there that she was going to talk to the woman about what she knew about the relationship between Scorpius and Potter, both past and present. Because if there was the slightest chance that the two had separated for the wrong reasons she was going to interfere in a very big way.

"Looks like they're starting again. Hopefully it will be over soon." Andromeda said as she turned to meet Astoria's gaze, having felt the other woman's eyes on her.

"And we're going to keep kicking their butts!" Flora added as she joined the group with the rest of her spectator family, Domi looking decidedly kissed and smug about it.

Teddy ruffled his daughter's hair before looking up to meet the gazes of his Malfoy relatives. "We thought we'd go out to dinner afterwards, the lot of us if it suits you, Astoria, Scorpius."

Astoria spoke before her son could. "That sounds lovely."


	6. Playing Games

Playing Games

After the break the game continued, with more and more of the pressure being put on Christopher's shoulders as energies flagged and the opposing team's constant endurance training became more and more apparent. The official team trained regularly for games and that, plus their largely superior skills, made them the obvious ones to place money on. Or that would have been the case if it hadn't been for the fact that a lack of social life and a need to train his body had led Christopher to build up an endurance that was in fact superior to many of Jordan's teammates. So while the opposing team had the energy to continue to run and repeatedly kick the football in the werewolf's direction Christopher more than had the energy to continue to knock the ball back over to the other side of the pitch.

In fact, the offensive side of Al's team stopped running after the other team when they went to score on Christopher, remaining on the other side to wait for their goalie to kick or throw the ball their way.

It was a strategy that not only pissed Jordan off but worked really well for them.

Ten minutes before the game was scheduled to end Albus and Gellert returned to the bleachers, the other adults opting not to comment over the fact that Albus's hair was no longer intricately braided but had been pulled back at the nape. The smug looks both men were wearing said it all, and since none of them wanted the mental images they all concentrated on the game.

Completely obvious to the undercurrents Flora wandered over to them, asking them brightly if they'd come up with good strategy to punish Jordan too while they were gone.

While Albus blushed Gellert grinned wolfishly. "The strategy session went excellent, thanks for asking."

The blond didn't make a sound when Albus's elbow connected with his side.

"That's good." Flora agreed. "We're going out to dinner after the game and you guys have to come cause I said so."

"And you're the boss."

Nodding, pleased that her Uncle Alby realized that, Flora turned her attention back to Gellert, the look in her eyes saying that she was going to assume that he would just fall into line with her demand, smiling brightly at him before heading off to insult Jordan's team some more.

Looking over at Albus Gellert wisely spoke German since he wanted to remain in his lover's good books. "You really want to go out to dinner with them? We could go somewhere together, just the two of us." The gleam in his brown eyes indicated just what they'd be doing if it was just the two of them. "The others can look after Al. They obviously have him thoroughly covered."

He was torn, but at the end of the day Albus couldn't leave until he was absolutely sure that Jordan and Al weren't going to lock horns or accidentally reveal what had caused their explosive fight months ago. It still ate at him that he didn't know what had caused his best friend to go after the stupid football player like a piranha smelling blood. The possibility that something would be said or indicated later was hard to pass up, not to mention the fact that Gellert had distracted him before he could really give Al hell for coming to play the game in the first place and that needed to be taken care of too.

"Tempting, and definitely a possibility after dinner or tomorrow, but I'm going to stick with Al until he'd safely back at Durmstrang and away from Jordan. You can head back afterwards if you like. I'm sure Mickey will come and it will be nice to catch up with him."

"Mickey?" Gellert repeated.

Okay, it was a little manipulative and underhanded, but he wanted his lover to become comfortable with his family. Not to mention the fact that it would be handy to have the other man on hand if it did become necessary to give Jordan a lesson in manners. And it wasn't like he was lying, Albus told himself as he smiled casually, he wasn't trying to insinuate something that wasn't there, since Mickey had indicated subtly being a little interested in him.

"Mickey was in Gryffindor with us, a good friend of Al's brother James. He's actually Jordan's cousin, and indirectly introduced the two, but he's such a sweetie we all forgave him for it. I've always liked him."

Studying the redhead Gellert tried to decipher whether the other man was trying to make him jealous or not. That would be stupid, but Albus had been known to resort to the sort of manipulation only idiots applied since it was the best they could do upon occasion. He had no reason to be jealous or to worry, his lover would never cheat on him, if only because Albus was smart enough to know that whoever he cheated on him with would never be seen or heard from again shortly after the indiscretion. And if he did stay Albus would probably see that as a sign that he could be manipulated just that easily, which was both a good and bad thing. A bad thing because it would only encourage the redhead to employ such tactics at a later date, but good because then Albus would underestimate him and he could use that to his advantage.

Decisions, decisions.

"I'll go to dinner with everyone."

Pleasure lighting up his eyes Albus rested his head against the blond's, taking the man's hand in his for a loving squeeze.

It was ridiculous sometimes, Gellert thought as he squeezed back, how such simple things could make his lover so happy.

)

The game ended with a shut out, the one goal Al's team had managed to score in the beginning saving them from what would have probably been a lot of overtime that would have ended with their team forfeiting simply because they hadn't the energy to go on. As it was they pretty much all dragged themselves off the pitch, with only Christopher looking like he could have gone another hour without expiring. They could have hated the werewolf for that, but he'd pretty much won them the game so they forgave him as they crowed over their victory and gave him friendly slaps on the back.

Not surprisingly Jordan's team's coach came back over to try and recruit Christopher again, which obviously pissed off several members of the team, especially their captain, but no one could deny that anyone would be lucky to have the large, silent man on their side.

Both Domi and the werewolf's father beamed with pride as they hung off him, much to Christopher's amusement.

Sitting on the bench to catch his breath Al forced himself to get to his feet when he felt Scorpius's eyes on his back, turning around to see the blond standing off to the side with his mother, obviously waiting for the rest of them. Thank Merlin Albus had scared the hell out of Jordan earlier, that was probably the only thing that was keeping the arsehole from coming over to where they were. He was doing pretty good temper wise, but Al knew that he'd do his level best to shove a football down his bastard ex's throat if the man so much as started to walk towards Scorpius.

Though the chances that his two exes would attempt to interact were next to nil, thankfully. Scorpius wasn't the type to confront people unless seriously provoked and Jordan, as far as he knew, was still under the mistaken assumption that Scorpius was a typical Malfoy and therefore very much inclined to maim and kill those who pissed them off and didn't possess magic.

It was Jordan's complete lack of understanding of what kind of a man Scorpius was that had caused the arrogant arse's grand plan to backfire on him so badly the year before.

And since thinking about what Jordan had tried to do and insinuate that time made his blood start to boil Al decided that it was best if he got thinking about something else. Like what he wanted for dinner. That was a nice, safe topic to debate.

Or maybe he better go over to where Mickey was being introduced to Gellert by Albus, just in case.

Al arrived as Albus was finishing the introduction, the handshake seeming to go off without a hitch. If Gellert reminded him of a panther that was more than capable of going from vaguely bored to violent in a heartbeat…well that was fairly normal where the blond was concerned.

Well aware of why Al had come over and trusting that the man wasn't kidding about the repercussions to be had if he were to hit on Albus in front of his new boyfriend, Mickey wisely didn't flirt, as was his nature. The Durmstrang guy didn't look all that dangerous with the curls and pretty face, but Mickey knew better than to let appearances deceive him and get him cursed into oblivion. Still, he wasn't James's friend for nothing.

"So where did you two lovebirds wander off to during the second half?" He asked innocently, ignoring the exasperated look Al sent in his direction. "You missed some awesome playing by yours truly. And Al too." He added in an afterthought tone of voice.

Slightly amused by the way Albus went red-but not about to show it in front of his lover's idiotic acquaintance-Gellert simply gave the older man a look that suggested he found Mickey to be about as interesting and entertaining as watching paint dry. "Since your team failed to score during the second half I doubt we missed much."

"They were strat-o-gizing." Flora informed Mickey as she came over, wrapping her arms around Gellert's leg since he was her new favorite person, leaning her head against his side. He'd given her money and might give her more later. She loved her Uncle Gellert.

Looking down at her Gellert raised a single eyebrow. "Why aren't you afraid of me the way my brother is?"

"Your hair is pretty. And you gave me money."

A considering look came into Gellert's eyes as he gave Flora his full attention, the annoyance of her hanging off him temporarily rendered unimportant. "So you're saying that if I regularly gave my brother money he'd be brainwashed into liking me. Enough that my mother would stop trying to make me spend time with him in order to increase our brotherly connection?"

Flora's eyebrows knitted in confusion. "What?"

"Nevermind, Sweetie." Albus patted her head and gave his lover a dark look. "And you are not bribing Tristan into liking you, Gellert. Not that he doesn't like you, he loves you, but he's not going to get over his shyness where you're concerned by you buying him stuff."

"You're biased where I'm concerned."

"Yes, yes I am, but still…Al, tell him his brother loves him."

The kid had looked more than a little intimidated by Gellert the one time he'd met the kid, but Al knew better than to say the truth given that he was already in the doghouse with his best friend. "I'm sure your brother loves you, Gellert. According to Albus you're a very loveable person once someone gets to know you, and Tristan's known you his entire life."

Gellert just rolled his eyes over the sentimentality that seemed to permeate the Gryffindor psyche. "Let's go to dinner while I still have the stomach to eat."

)

Scorpius did his level best to ignore Al's presence at one of the table they'd snagged and put together once they arrived at the family restaurant James's friend had recommended. It wasn't just that his mother was around and watching him like a hawk, thought that was part of it, Scorpius silently admitted to himself. He just didn't want to deal with his feelings for the Gryffindor on top of all his family problems while they were surrounded by people they both knew. Thankfully Al had decided to stick close to Mickey in case the idiot somehow managed to find one of Gellert's buttons and therefore wasn't paying him the least attention.

Though that would be an interesting way to end the evening, Scorpius thought wryly, imagining a fight between Gellert and Mickey. It would be over for James's friend in the blink of an eye. If he blinked at the wrong time he'd miss it.

And since imagining all the ways Gellert might express his displeasure with Mickey was better than thinking about his own problems, Scorpius indulged himself with that for a few minutes. Unfortunately it was instinctual for him to be aware of Al on a primitive level he couldn't seem to control, which meant he couldn't seem to stop himself from looking up and over when he sensed that the Gryffindor was leaving the table. He watched as Al headed towards the other side of the restaurant in the direction of the loo, the Slytherin's eyes about to return to his plate when he happened to notice someone making his way after Al.

That Jordan guy.

Without thinking about what he was doing Scorpius pushed back his chair and got up as well, murmuring to his mother that he'd be right back before heading off to follow after the other two.

Gellert, who'd noticed what was going on as well, decided not to inform Albus of this latest development since in his opinion it was about time the idiot stepped up and made his move where Potter was concerned. Helping Albus interfere with their roommates' love lives was not how he wanted to spend his time after all.

He'd wait for the shots to be fired before interfering.

)

Al glared at the other man, honestly not surprised that Jordan had hunted him down. The man didn't know when to give up. It was one of the reasons the bastard was so successful at football, damn him. It was also why he so often wanted to curse the man, Squib or not. But he was better than that, and he wasn't going to pull his wand on the man or knock more of Jordan's teeth out. However tempting it might be to do so.

"Make whatever you say quick and easy to answer, Jordan."

Shoving his hands in his pockets Jordan's eyes made a quick glance in the direction they'd come from, wanting to know if any of his ex's family or friends intended to join them. Teddy wasn't much of a badarse, but he'd managed to pull Al off of him where others had failed. And as for the women…he'd rather not think about what they'd do to him if given a green light. His face still hurt thanks to Flora. He also didn't know what his ex's friends were capable of, and would rather not find out any time soon. Especially if Al had been serious about the goalie being a werewolf.

He'd had enough embarrassment and pain for one day.

And wanting to take back control of the situation the older man leered at the other man. "Okay, fine, we'll get down to business. Though you used to be more interested in foreplay."

He couldn't roll his eyes fast enough. "Only because I had zero interest in doing more than let you feel me up a little."

"Please, I have feeling below the waist, Potter. You definitely had interest."

"I'm a teenage boy not getting laid. Of course I get hard easily. It's no reflection on you, trust me."

"Thanks for that."

Al smirked, taking some pleasure in verbally taking the man down a notch. It was almost as satisfying as beating the shit out of the bastard. "And again, I'm pointing out that I will be missed if we stay here much longer. Get on with it."

"Fine." Knowing the man was right Jordan asked his question, which had been eating at him for months now. "Okay, so I was wondering how it was that you saw through my…plan. I mean it was flawless, there was no way in hell you could have known it wasn't Malfoy. I mean seriously, do you know how much I paid that guy?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do. Kurt says 'fuck you', by the way. He wasn't at all pleased when I explained to him just what you were up to with your little video."

Jordan stared at him. "You've met Kurt?"

"Teddy's a Metamorphmagus too, you gobshite. Do you really think that given the rarity of that ability he wouldn't be able to point me in the right direction when I asked him for some names?"

"Fuck me."

"I'd sooner sleep with a girl."

"No you wouldn't."

"Oh, I would. No question."

When the sound of someone clearing their throat reached both their ears the two men turned their heads in tandem, both less then pleased to see Scorpius standing in the middle of the hallway, the former Slytherin having moved into view.

"Scorpius…Jordan was just leaving."

"He can leave in a minute." Eyes narrowed and gleaming with stormy intent, Scorpius looked ever inch the member of an aristocratic, dangerous and lethal family. Moving forward with focused intent the blond got right up Jordan's face, gently but firmly pushing Al lightly away and behind him when the Gryffindor tried to stop him. "You can stay behind me or leave, Al, those are your two choices."

Al fought back a wince. Uh oh.

Dammit.


	7. Confronting the Past

Confronting The Past

Once he was sure that Al understood that he wouldn't tolerate any interference Scorpius gave Jordan his full attention, surprised in some corner of his brain that he felt so calm and in control of himself and the situation. A thick, hard layer of cold had settled over him, giving him the confidence and strength to face off against his love's ex boyfriend, who was taller and better looking than him but was, apparently, uglier inside than any creature he'd encountered in the magical world. And it was that ugliness that he saw now, the wretchedness of this thing disguised as a person who apparently did nothing but use the people around him.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy, and from the sounds of it you and I have quite a lot to discuss, don't we?"

Scorpius was surprised at the flash of fear he saw in the other man's eyes, but then it occurred to him that the Squib really had no idea who he was dealing with. He and Jordan had never met before, and Al would have considered it bad manners to have talked about him while he was dating someone else so…so as far as Jordan knew, possibly, Scorpius was as dark and inclined to maim or kill non wizards as other members of his family had once been.

The man didn't know him, but he knew the name Malfoy.

This could be a whole lot easier than he'd originally thought.

Scorpius deliberately did his best to impersonate his grandfather when he was pissed off now. "You used a Metamorphmagus to impersonate me in a video you had made. That was very unwise of you, Squib." He knew what a video was because while they'd been dating Al had taken him on a 'typical' Muggle date for laughs. The theatre and film had been fascinating, and he'd never forgotten it or the explanation the Gryffindor had given about how the movies were made and shown.

Now he just had to figure out why the man had apparently paid quite a bit of money to make this video thing.

Hearing Lucius's voice come from his sweetie's lips was more than a little disconcerting, Al thought as he forced his face not to reveal his surprise. Of course it hit him pretty quick just what Scorpius was doing and he felt smug pride that the blond had once been his. His heart had the best taste in men, the Gryffindor thought as he gave Jordan a pitying look over Scorpius's shoulder for added effect.

And then it occurred to him that Jordan might blurt out what he'd done and Scorpius would never forgive him if he figured out what the bastard had done because of him.

Oh shite.

Reading his ex's expression easily Jordan turned his fear to anger, glaring at the man who'd played such hell with his formerly perfect world. "Dammit, Al. We had a deal. You didn't tell Malfoy about what I'd done and I handed over my copy and stayed the hell away from you. You came to the match, I didn't come looking for you."

"He overheard you, you IDIOT!"

While the two argued about who had broken their apparent deal Scorpius took a moment to wonder just what the hell his look alike had done in this video. The most logical assumption would be that the man had had the impersonator showing him in a bad light in order to upset Al. What had he done in the video? Something the impersonator hadn't liked when he'd found out the real purpose of the video. Would this Kurt person have agreed to do something really horrible like hurt or kill someone, because it didn't sound like that was it. Then again, maybe the impersonator had been led to believe that Scorpius wouldn't be out for his blood for impersonating him and had been clued in that that was a distinct possibility.

Wait, had Al just called the video perverted?

Mouth opening and closing several times the former Slytherin felt his control start to break up like a sheet of ice in direct sunlight. The point of the video made had been to destroy what lingering emotions Al had had for him, and what better way to do that on an emotional level but to make the Gryffindor think he'd been replaced.

The man impersonating him hadn't been hurting someone in the video, he'd been….

"You fucked up bastard!" Control snapping like a twig Scorpius took the two necessary steps and then swung out his fist and cold conked the surprised Squib before the older man had time to even raise his hands in defense.

Watching the man crumble to the ground was more satisfying than he'd imagined, but Scorpius's whole body still shook with fury that was aching to be unleashed. But he was too well bred to just kick an unconscious man, especially since the fucker wouldn't feel it anyway.

Moving to stand beside Scorpius Al put a comforting and restraining hand on the blond's shoulder. "Nice punch. I taught you well."

Looking over at Al Scorpius nodded in agreement and then asked what had to be asked. "How DID you know it wasn't me in that video?"

A rueful smile crossed Al's strained face as he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand. "I believed it for about five minutes, but then my brain clicked in enough to see that there were three things wrong with the picture, no pun intended." Though the fact that it was a pun made his smile a little more genuine. "Well three aside from the fact that the odds of you being videotaped at all are minuscule. I guess he figured I'd be too upset to think that logically. He's the big picture sort of guy. He misses the little details a lot of the time."

"And those three are?"

"You sure you wanna know?"

Getting why the other man was dragging this out Scorpius reached out and took Al's hand, threading their fingers together as he reined in his fury to meet the Gryffindor's eyes squarely. "What he did reflects on him, not on you. I'm more to blame than you are, for hurting you so badly that you'd have anything to do with him."

Emotion swarming into his eyes Al lifted their joined hands and twisted them so that he could place his lips against the back of Scorpius's hand.

"Everything all right here?"

Both men turned their heads to see Teddy standing in front of the hallway.

Forcing himself to let go of Al's hand Scorpius motioned to the unconscious man lying at their feet. "I'd appreciate a hand throwing out this garbage, Cousin."

"Happy to help."

Leaving that to the two of them Al got out of their way as he watched them each take an arm and start dragging Jordan out of the hallway and then out of sight.

Slowly exhaling in relief the Gryffindor leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment as he got himself under control as well. And when he was sure that he had a handle on himself Al forced himself to head back to join the rest of their party, knowing they'd come looking for him as soon as they recognized who Teddy and Scorpius were dragging out of the place.

Everyone would have questions for him, which was not going to be fun, but on the bright side at least he hadn't had to answer Scorpius's question about the three things that had tipped him that the boy in the video hadn't been his.

"Thank Merlin for small favors."

)

As Al expected everyone noticed Teddy and Scorpius removing Jordan from the place and they all wanted to discuss it, the volume only increasing when the other two men returned to the table and therefore could be questioned as well. But Teddy didn't know anything and by silent understanding neither Al or Scorpius were willing to discuss what had been said in the hallway. The only thing they were willing to confirm was the fact that it had been Scorpius who had punched out the footballer and not Al.

The persistent questioning by everyone except for Gellert would have gotten really bad if not for the person who walked into the place as they were finishing up their main meal and debating what was going to be ordered for dessert.

Having been paying attention to the door in the hopes that he'd get his own shot at Jordan Albus's eyes went huge as he watched the lone man come into the room, joining the majority of the women in the room who took a look and instantly started lusting like crazy.

Taking in the look in his lover's eyes Gellert would have been seriously pissed if not for the fact that his man was drooling over his twin.

Not that Tommy was actually his twin, the elf was just wearing the medallion that he'd made so that the creature could successfully impersonate him whenever necessary. Only in this case Tommy was wearing a black suit, silk shirt and tie, with a fedora on his head to complete the look of a thirties gangster to perfection. The fact that Tommy was grinning and winking at all the girls checking him out as he made his way over to their table probably boosted his aura of appeal too.

"Gellert…you have a twin?" Domi asked, a little off put to be finding someone who looked like her best friend's boyfriend so attractive. It was probably for the best that Gellert wasn't the flirty type the way this one was or her Alby would have his hands full beating the girls off with a stick.

"It's Tommy, my elf. He's just in disguise." And there was a hint of annoyance in his voice when he asked the elf exactly why he was there when Tommy reached the table.

Tommy shrugged his shoulders with a grin still on his pretty face. "Just following orders, Boss. You said that as soon as I got ya the book I was to get my little ass to you and hand it over. I'm here to hand it over. Heya, Red." He added, winking at his boss's lover.

More than a little mortified by his reaction, even though it was understandable given who Tommy currently looked like, Albus worked up a small smile. "Good evening, Tommy."

Holding out his hand without a word Gellert continued to give the elf a stony look until Tommy pulled a wrapped up bundle from a hidden pocket in his suit and handed it over. "By the way, you owe me a bonus for this one. The fat cat I got it from was a serious Ambercrombie and he totally tried to bleed me dry paying for that thing. I had to point out what happened the last time he tried to do that to you before he'd deal fair. Dirty, rat bastard. Scuse the language, Dolls."

"What's a Ambercrombie?" Flora wanted to know.

"Means someone who's a know-it-all, Little Doll." Tommy informed her, coming over to meet the interested little girl. "You're Flora, right? Heard all about you from Tristan and Anya. Nice ta meetcha."

"You talk funny." Flora chirped as she took the hand he offered, giggling when the elf kissed her hand in true debonair style. "I like you."

"It's so disconcerting to see someone who looks like Gellert act like this." Domi informed her boyfriend, who nodded in understanding.

Christopher understood the sentiment completely since he'd been the one who'd had to rein the elf in when Tommy had gone undercover as Gellert after the blonde had been injured protecting Anya. He was pretty sure that if he'd been in bad shape at the time the strain and stress of it all would have given him ulcers.

Amused and glad for the distraction the elf posed Al invited the elf to join them for dessert, grinning in thanks when the elf was more than happy to do so.

So while Albus and Gellert went on an information high over the contents of the old book Tommy entertained everyone else with funny stories about all the weird people he'd had to deal with because of his heartless boss, his use of thirties slang just making the tall tales that much more interesting.

It helped that Gellert was too engrossed in the book to correct or tell his elf to shut up.

So all and all the meal ended on a high note, and everyone forgot about Jordan. For the time being.

)

Stretched out on his bed Al tried to move as little as possible, his muscles making it clear that they had not appreciated being abused. He really should have warmed up better before the football game. This was what he got for not playing sports on a regular basis. And as much as he hated the thought he was going to have to work out more after he recovered from his earlier exercise, Al acknowledged with a grimace, both at the idea and the physical pain. Man but he hurt all over the place, and he couldn't reach everywhere he needed to in order to numb the area with the cream Christopher had loaned him since Albus was still mad at him.

And there was no way he was getting out of bed to see the useless school nurse.

Thank Merlin his team had won or he'd be seriously pissed on top of the pain.

Not to mention the fact that he'd gotten to see Scorpius punch out Jordan which had been very satisfying and sexy to watch. His man rarely showed his badarse side, but when he did he was YUMMY to the extreme.

Since thinking that was not going to make going to sleep any easier Al tried to push the thoughts aside but wasn't really all that surprised when he wasn't successful. And hey, if he had to stay up all night because of muscle pain thinking about Scorpius was a pleasurable way to pass the time.

Though maybe he should try to think of something else before a certain area of his anatomy added to his pain.

As if on cue Al's ears picked up the sound of someone climbing up the ladder. And since he knew that their other two roommates were probably canoodling or more in Gellert's bunk the Gryffindor had a pretty good idea who was coming even before Scorpius stuck his head in.

"May I come in?"

"Sure. Forgive me for not sitting up, but that wouldn't be a good idea right now."

Concern coming into his eyes Scorpius scooted over so that he was sitting cross legged beside Al, facing him. "I thought Christopher gave you some stuff to put on your sore muscles since Wimbledon said you deserved to suffer for lying to him."

"Yeah, he did, but I can only reach so far."

"Why didn't you ask me to put it on you then?"

"I'd give you a look but that would involve moving my neck." Al quipped with a grin. "I'm a tough guy, I can handle a little pain."

Unlike Al Scorpius had no problem turning his head so that he could give the other man a look. "Right, that's why I could hear you groaning in pain from the bottom bunk, Mr. Tough Guy. Where's the cream, I'll rub it into your back and neck while you answer the question you avoided answering before."

Crap, he'd been hoping that the blond would forget about re-asking that question, at least for a little while. And he'd rather the other man not have access to his currently vulnerable body when they had this discussion but that wasn't going to be an option it seemed, Al thought with a sigh as he slowly turned his body so that he was lying on his stomach. "Cream's on the shelf there."

Since it would seem cowardly not to Scorpius moved to straddle the other man's back, resting back on his knees so that he wouldn't transfer any of his weight onto Al as he pulled the man's shirt up. Grabbing the cream off the shelf Scorpius quickly transferred the lotion onto his fingers and began to rub it into the other man's back where he'd imagine the Gryffindor wouldn't be able to reach.

To distract himself from what he was doing and to drone out the sounds of pleasure his ex was making at his touch Scorpius brought up his question from earlier. "What were the three things that tipped you of that the guy in the video wasn't me?"

Curving into the touch in spite of himself Al took a deep breath. "I'm going to say again that you don't really need to know that. Suffice to say that you don't ever have to worry about that video surfacing. Not that most people from our world would even know how what the disc was, much less how to play it. They'd probably think it was a weird little Frisbee or something."

"I want to know."

Sighing, knowing that tone of voice well, Al gave in and concentrated on the pleasure of the man's touch to distract him from what he had to explain. "Well the first reason was that I knew there was no way in hell you'd ever allow anyone to video tape you having sex. Kurt knew where the camera was and it showed if you were paying attention, which I was once I'd come to my senses and started looking for other inconsistencies."

"Well of course I'd never let someone…why would anyone…Jordan must have paid that Kurt guy an unbelievable amount of money for him to have agreed to do what he did, even if he looked like me while he was doing it." Which was very, very freaky to him, especially since his second cousin and Flora had the same ability.

Al mentally debated and then decided not to inform Scorpius that Kurt had sex with people for a living. A very good living since the man was bi and could look like anyone you might desire to have sex with. Nice guy, all things considering. They'd bonded a little over their extreme dislike for Jordan.

"So what were the other two reasons you knew it wasn't me?"

Better to get it over with, Al told himself.

"You're not nearly as flexible as Kurt is. And I'd bet serious money that you're a bottom, not a top."


	8. Asking Your Opinion

Asking Your Opinion

Okay, he got the not flexible part because he wasn't remotely interested in sports. He was in decent shape, but Scorpius knew that he was nowhere near as limber or fit as Al or the football playing bastard. It was the bottom thing that confused him for a moment as he tried to figure out what the man was saying about him. But the fact that Al obviously didn't want to discuss this, combined with the topic under discussion, had the light going on over the Slytherin's head so that the man's grey eyes darkened as he crossed his arms in front of him as he glared down at the Gryffindor.

Shoulders hunching Al figured it was a good thing that Scorpius had rubbed the cream in first since he might need to move quickly very shortly. "I don't mean that in a bad way." Though obviously that's how the blond had taken it. "It doesn't make you less a man or anything. Heck, I figure I'll at least give it a try one of these days. I just meant you're not the aggressive, need to be on top sort." Now he was perilously close to babbling but couldn't seem to stop. "And maybe I'm wrong, I probably am now that I think about it. I don't know why I considered that one of the three reasons. I shouldn't have said it that way. I should have said-."

The rest of Al's longwinded spiel was cut off when Scorpius slapped a hand over the man's mouth to shut him up.

"I'm as alpha male as you, Albus Potter."

Al nodded his head in complete agreement.

"Don't ever suggest otherwise, understand me?"

Again he nodded since his mouth was still covered. That he was finding the man's reaction strangely cute and adorable were thoughts he knew to keep to himself anyway. And it wasn't like he didn't agree with the man, because he did. That Scorpius wasn't the sexually aggressive type didn't change or speak less of the blond's manhood as far as he was concerned. It was just a personality trait, like the fact that he liked to cuddle as much as any girl.

It probably didn't help that he was usually on top when he fantasized about them making love, so he'd always pictured Scorpius in that way.

The fact that whenever he'd dreamt about the two of them making love he'd been on the bottom was at the back of Scorpius's mind, but he pushed that aside with true Malfoy skill. It was one thing for him to imagine that scenario and another thing entirely when they were discussing reality. Especially after the week he'd had.

Gently wrapping his fingers around the pale wrist attached to his present muzzle Al moved the man's hand away from his mouth, turning it so that he could kiss the back of it. "No more impinging on your masculinity, promise."

"Don't kiss my hand like I'm a girl!"

"Oops."

The long week he'd had weighing on him like a ton of bricks, Scorpius scowled at the man who was making things that much more trying without even trying. "For your information I'm going to be on top when I find someone…so there."

Having always suspected that Scorpius intended to marry a woman who met his family's approval and continue the Malfoy line Al supposed the other man was right about that. He would have felt sorry for the woman Scorpius would marry if he weren't obligated to hate her for the rest of his existence since she'd have the man he wanted most.

And since thinking about the future without Scorpius was depressing as hell Al hid his thoughts behind humor. "Yup, and then you and your brother or sister to be will do away with any question about the Malfoy ability to reproduce and multiply."

Opening his mouth to make it perfectly clear that bringing up that conversation, which had possibly played a part in his parents' marital discord, was not a good idea, Scorpius closed it again as another thought occurred to him. One that he hadn't thought of before because he'd been too busy worrying about his parents to consider what having a sibling meant. How that changed things he'd thought unchangeable.

When his mother had her baby he'd no longer be the only heir to the Malfoy line.

He'd have a brother or sister who could provide his parents and grandparents with heirs.

It didn't have to be him. He wouldn't have to get married.

"Uhm…Sweetie? Are you okay?" Sliding forward so that he could get a closer look at his former man Al waved a hand in front of the Slytherin's face. "Please say something. You're worrying me here. I can't tell if you're breathing or not. Please tell me that you're breathing and that you haven't suffered a stroke or brain aneurism in front of me."

"Did you…just call me Sweetie?"

"Ahhhhh…No?"

"I'm gonna go now before you say anything else I'll have to yell at you for." Scorpius got out, knowing that he needed to be alone with his thoughts. "See you in the morning."

Letting the man go since he knew better than to think he could stop the man when he was determined to leave him, Al wished the man good night once more and watched as the blond scooted back across the bed and let himself out.

"What did I say?" He wondered aloud, rewording the statement as he answered his own question. "What didn't I say? I can't believe I called his sweetie. I took way too many footballs to the head today."

And on that note Al turned his attention to settling back into his bed, feeling a lot better body wise but even more churned up when it came to his emotions.

How much it sucked to be a teenager, let him count the ways.

)

After a night of trying to figure things out on his own Scorpius was ready to admit that he needed a second opinion. The problem was that there really was only one person he could get an opinion from. He couldn't go to Al because it involved him, and he'd sooner eat a bat than ask Wimbledon for personal advice. Domi was not someone he wanted to owe a favor to and asking Christopher would require the werewolf to write all his answers out since Scorpius didn't understand sign language. That left Gellert as his only option. Which was depressing, and not just because he couldn't see how getting the man's point of view would help him in the long run. He might not get Gellert's mind and thought process a lot of the time, but he did get the fact that the man's view point when it came to relationships and family was seriously skewed.

But the man was all he had.

Like he needed one more reason to be depressed about his life.

Desperate times called for desperate measures though, and Scorpius found himself seeking Gellert out the next day, relieved to find the living definition of a cynic alone in a corner of the school's library. Walking over he took a seat across from his roommate, grateful that their peers avoided their headmaster's grandson and therefore weren't sitting nearby. "Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

Looking up from the book he'd been reading Gellert's answer was to the point. "Albus is meeting me here in approximately ten minutes. You have until then to talk. Less if whatever you want to talk about doesn't interest me in the slightest."

"You're all heart."

The sound Gellert made in the back of his throat made it plain what he thought of that sarcastic statement.

"Okay, so it's like this. You already went through all the reasons Al and I broke up with him and you're the smartest man I know, so I figure that you've at least guessed some of the other reasons, like the fact that until recently I was the only Malfoy around to carry on my family's line. But I'm going to have a brother or sister in the coming year and unless fate decides to be really twisted and cruel that sibling will be more than capable of having children with their future spouse. It would be wrong though, to dump that kind of responsibility onto him or her, right?"

"Why? I'm expecting Tristan to provide my mother with the grandchildren she wants."

Normally Scorpius would have pointed out that that was a little unfair to Tristan, but it really was for the sake of humanity that Gellert didn't reproduce. Young, highly impressible minds should be kept away from him at all times unless supervised.

So instead he continued with his earlier train of thought, debating out loud how it would probably be wrong of him to expect his future brother or sister to take on the responsibility and pressure that came with being the Malfoy heir. It would be selfish of him, especially since he was the oldest and therefore it was his duty, wasn't it, to do what needed to be done regardless of his own feelings. And besides, he argued, even if being a heir wasn't a problem there was still the undeniable fact that the majority of his family didn't like Al and therefore what was the point of debating the matter in the first place?

Marking his place in the book Gellert closed it, brown eyes clearly conveying the fact that it was in the other blond's best interest to shut up now. And when Scorpius did so Gellert sighed and did what needed to be done so that his roommate would leave him the hell alone.

"Look, you want to know what you should do? You need me to push you in the right direction because you don't have the personal fortitude to make the decision on your own? For Merlin's sake, Domi has more balls than you do sometimes." Seeing the protests about to spew out of the other man's mouth Gellert pointed a threatening finger in his roommate's direction, effectively shutting him up once more. "Fine. You want an opinion? I'll give you an opinion. My opinion is that you know what you want to do but you don't have the guts to do it because you're scared. You're scared because you know that no matter what road you pick you're going to pay a price and you're going to lose people. People who matter to you. And they matter in different ways which makes it damn hard to pick sides, especially since you know in your gut that you shouldn't have to pick sides in the first place. But that's life and it sure as hell is never fair. Trust me. So let's look at your little dilemma at its most basic, shall we? Forget Potter, forget your yet to be named sibling, forget what society will have to say on the matter."

And since he didn't trust the other man to be able to do that Gellert shoved the information down Scorpius's throat, hoping for both their sakes that the idiot absorbed at least some of what he was wasting his valuable time on.

"At the bottom level, the level you have to build on, you have two basic choices. To be true to yourself and your nature and live your life as a gay man, or be the man the majority of your family expects you to be and play the straight man. Since it's the second road you're currently on we'll start there. You choose to play the straight man, marry some woman your family picks out for you. The pureblooded woman who, provided she's not as dumb as a troll due to serious inbreeding, is going to know that she's married to a man who desires other men and who has to force himself to sleep with her in order to produce a heir. Neither of you will enjoy the sex, you'll hate each other, and she'll blame you for ruining her life which let's face it, would be entirely justified unless you plan to tell her you're gay before you marry. You won't cheat on her since you're too honorable for that, so you won't be getting laid for the rest of your life, and you'll have to live in a world with sexually appealing men you won't be able to touch, same for her provided she's just as honorable. Should you have a child he or she will know, provided the inbreeding isn't too bad at this point, that his or her parents are miserably unhappy, and should it figure out the reason will likely blame his or herself for the situation you all find yourselves in. And since you'll love your child or children, you'll hate yourself for hurting them that way, just as you'll feel guilty for effectively ruining your unknown wife's life too. You'll end up like so many Malfoy men before you, filled with misplaced anger, hate, and a terrible loneliness that will slowly consume you as the years go by."

Gellert took a quick breath and then continued what he'd started. "So that's what you'd face all for the privilege of remaining a Malfoy in good standing. Living that life so that your paternal grandfather, a bigoted, small minded, hate filled man will call you his grandson. Nevermind all the war crimes he committed and the fact that he basically destroyed your father's life by recruiting him as a Death Eater. What he thinks of you matters to you. So does your paternal grandmother's, a woman who at the very least was complacent in the murders of her cousin, brother in law, niece, and nephew in law, and who has spent decades ignoring her only living, non Malfoy relative in spite all of all her sister's lost because the man she married was a Muggleborn. And let's not forget your self-loathing and hate filled father, who recently kicked his pregnant wife, your mother, out of your family home because of all the self-loathing he feels towards himself because unlike your grandfather, he at least has the self-awareness to know what he is and that he doesn't deserve your mother, hence his willingness to believe she's found someone else. He doesn't see himself as worthy of the happiness he has with you and your mother so he's just been waiting for the other shoe to fall with his own father fueling his fears by criticizing him, his marriage, and his raising of you every chance he gets. Criticisms he has to make because seeing how much better you turned out in comparison to your father only shoves it in his face how many mistakes he made with Draco."

"And as icing on the cake, in case this was your fallback plan, there is indeed an afterlife, but if you assume that all your problems will just go away after you die then think again. You'll have spent a lifetime living a lie and the man who was meant for you, Potter or someone else, well he'll have had a lifetime too. A lifetime he might have spent loving someone else. Someone he'll want to spend his afterlife with once they both pass on. And FYI, I have it on good authority that without the love of your life heaven can't be called heaven."

Opening his book once more Gellert opened it to the page he'd marked, turning his attention back to his reading while he delivered his last, finishing blow. "So in the end your choice should be clear, Malfoy. Don't make your choice based on Potter, your family, or what anyone else thinks because most people are stupid. Doing anything because others want you to is the height of stupidity if it's the opposite of what you want to do. It's your life to live or ruin, and in the end it will be on your shoulders what you get from this life and possibly the next. Obviously you know what I think, and if you don't I'll shove you out the nearest window for wasting my time. Now get the hell out of Albus's seat."

"I think he's in shock."

Turning his head Gellert met the woman's gaze and then switched his attention to the man sitting so pale and silent across from him. "You could be right."

Walking over to stand beside her stunned son Astoria gave his hair a loving stroke before she glanced in Gellert's direction again. "Remind me never to make you angry at me."

Eyes on his book Gellert's response was a tad perturbed. "I miss the days when that was just common sense. I really do."

If she weren't worried about her eldest child's emotional and mental state Astoria would have asked the blond to elaborate. Instead of doing that she turned her attention to trying to get some sort of response from her son, who appeared to know she was there but seemed unable to verbally respond to her. She'd caught most of what her son's roommate had said to Scorpius and it had certainly been…thought provoking. Right up there with the conversation she'd had the night before with Andromeda after Flora had gone to bed. She'd learned a lot about the relationship her son had had with Harry Potter's son from her husband's aunt and Teddy and Victoire had added more pieces to the puzzle when they'd joined the discussion.

Which was why she'd come to see her son.

"What happened to him?" Albus asked as he joined the trio, as surprised by Scorpius almost catatonic state and he was by the unexpected appearance of the blond's mother.

"He asked for my opinion."

"Ah." Since there was no way to tell how long it would take Scorpius's brain to recover from the beating it had no doubt just taken Albus decided that it would probably be in everyone's best interests if he and Gellert vacated the scene so that Astoria could take care of her son.

So he turned his attention to his lover and suggested they head out to find somewhere else to sit, Gellert agreeing since he didn't want to be around when Scorpius recovered.

The man might want to talk about his feelings some more after all.


	9. Choices to Make

Choices To Make

Holding in his curiosity Albus searched for another space for them to occupy where they wouldn't be overheard. Whatever Scorpius had needed to talk to Gellert about had to be huge for the man to have actually asked for advice from their roommate. Gellert normally wasn't someone you went to for advice about anything other than school work, and even then his lover wasn't the type to help anyone with their work unless it benefitted him in some way. And while he shouldn't stick his nose in Malfoy's personal business, if it had to do with Al then he had to investigate, Albus told himself, not about to admit that a lot of his interest stemmed from his own curiosity.

He'd been around too many Weasleys in this lifetime.

"Over there." Gellert pointed in the direction of the pair of chairs he'd spotted, both large and comfy looking. Walking over Gellert took a seat and then held out a hand to his lover.

Puzzled by the action Albus walked over and took the hand, eyes widening behind his glasses as he was tugged closer and into the other man's lap. "Gellert?"

Wrapping his one arm around the redhead's waist to anchor his redhead to him Gellert gave Albus a questioning look in return.

"Since when…we're in public."

As he wasn't affectionate or clingy by nature Gellert could understand the other man's confusion now that he knew what his lover was asking. And it wasn't that he needed the affection, he was secure in his position in the man's life, but still… "I like having you close to me."

"Oh." Pleasure bringing color to his cheeks Albus snuggled in to better fit his body to his man's, definitely liking being close to Gellert just as much. And since the other man had initiated the show of affection Albus allowed himself the pleasure of stroking the other man's short curls. "So what were you and Malfoy talking about? The Jordan thing?"

Scorpius probably didn't want his personal business talked about, but he hadn't given his word not to and he cared more about making Albus happy then his idiotic roommate. So Gellert summed up his conversation with the other man pretty much word for word while he tried his best not to make it obvious how much he enjoyed the simple pleasure of his lover's hand stroking through his hair.

When Gellert was done explaining Albus shook his head, marveling at the fact that anyone in their right mind would ask his lover for relationship advice. Not that the advice had been bad. Just incredibly brutal, the redhead thought with a wry smile. "So what do you think he's going to do?"

"If he knows what's good for him he'll take my advice." He would not kindly to the other man ignoring his advice after he'd gone to all the trouble of giving it. His time was damn valuable and wasting it was not in anyone's best interest unless that someone was Albus.

Poor Malfoy, Albus thought as he leaned his head against Gellert. The Slytherin had no idea just how much trouble he was potentially in.

)

Sipping from the tea cup Scorpius concentrated on the warmth flooding into his body, only a little embarrassed now as he watched his mother watch him over the rim of the cup. He'd frozen like a man under a body binding curse, Scorpius thought to himself with a mixture of self-loathing and sheer awe at the power Gellert had at his disposal, to so completely obliterate him with words alone. The man had some seriously scary verbal skills. He'd so pay to see his grandparents face off against his roommate. It would be epic.

And he was trying hard not to think about what the other man had said without a whole lot of luck.

"Feeling better, Baby?"

Under normal circumstances he'd be embarrassed by the fact that his mother had just called him baby while his peers could possibly be in hearing distance, but at the moment Scorpius was so beyond caring about that. "I've been better, but I'll live."

"Your friend is a very intense person." Astoria agreed, knowing her words were an extreme understatement. She'd always sensed that there was a lot more to her son's roommate then met the eye, but she'd gotten the distinct feeling that the boy could have gotten up in the Dark Lord's face and told the son of a snake to go fuck himself without an ounce of fear or hesitation.

Definitely an understatement, Scorpius thought as he swiped a hand through his hair, thinking to himself that the fact that Wimbledon was completely moony over Gellert was serious proof that the redhead's brain didn't function like a normal person's.

"So what brings you by, Mother?"

"To basically say some of what Gellert said to you." Was Astoria's rueful response as she reached out to take one of his cool hands in her own. "Though I was going to say it in a lot nicer, no doubt less compelling way. The way he did it you'd think your life was being threatened if you didn't think exactly like he wanted you to."

Good, so it hadn't just been him.

And thinking more clearly about what she'd first said Scorpius gave his mother a puzzled look. "You came here to talk to me about my future? About…my…marriage prospects?"

"I came because I've learned enough from talking to other members of our family to know that you were once very serious about Al Potter and might still be. That it's quite possible that the members of our family that I'm less than fond of at the moment might have a lot to do with your decision to end that relationship. If that's true then I came to knock some sense into you." Astoria's lips curved ruefully. "But it seems Gellert beat me to it."

Scorpius flushed, fairly sure he didn't even want to know what Victoire and possibly Flora had told his mother.

"Scorpius…all any good mother wants is her son to be happy, and to know that she has raised a good and honorable man. I know that I've raised a good and honorable man, but I don't think I've raised a very happy one at the moment. If the Chosen One's son is what you need in your life to be happy, then you need to grab hold of him and refuse to let go. You aren't being selfish to want love. Everyone should have love in their life. And anyone who can't respect your right to have that can just go to hell on a broomstick as far as I'm concerned."

Lips twitching in spite of himself Scorpius couldn't help but smile at his mother, love for her in his eyes. "And here I thought you wanted loads of grandchildren."

"Of course I want grandchildren. Loads of grandchildren. Grandchildren are the reward we parents get for not killing out own children no matter how provoked we might occasionally be. I expect you to adopt, young man, and will be seriously displeased if you don't. Your brother or sister can't be expected to do all the grandchildren producing.   
Now that would really be unfair."

At that Scorpius really had to laugh.

Enjoying the sound Astoria propped her chin on her palm and smiled. "Now that's what I like to hear."

"You know…you know the others are going to have a fit if I start publicly dating Al. And that's if he'd take me back in the first place."

"From what others are telling me he's pretty much yours for the taking." Astoria informed him, wisely not mentioning that Flora had been extremely vocal about that before she'd left to come to the school. "As for my darling in laws…well really, Scorpius, what does it matter what they think? If I cared what they thought do you think I would have been the excellent wife and mother that I am? Their lives are a testament to what happens when you let others think for you. I didn't raise a fool, Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy. You know what you want. And you know what you need."

"I like your way of saying all that a lot better than Gellert's."

"Who could blame you?"

)

Once she was fairly sure that her son was on the right track and had been given as much encouragement as she had to give Astoria gave Scorpius a big kiss and hug for luck and then sent him on his way. She could only hope at this point that everyone was right about how Harry Potter's younger son felt about her boy or this was all going to end horribly. And if it did end horribly then she was just going to have to find someone better than Al Potter for her son. Which would certainly be difficult, the Gryffindor was quite the catch, but she was too much of a Slytherin to ever admit the possibility of failure until it was ludicrous to do otherwise.

She was really hoping to be able to brag that her son had caught one of the Wizarding World's most eligible young bachelors though.

Shrugging her coat back on Astoria had just gotten back to her feet when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her. Turning around she was surprised to see Gellert there with a couple loose pieces of parchment in his hand. "Gellert."

He held out pieces of parchment until she took them from him. "I was bored in class earlier in the week and decided to pass the time by putting together some bullet points in case I had to step in and deal with your idiot husband. I thought you might want them since logic dictates you'll probably be seeing him shortly to make it clear he isn't to interfere in Scorpius's love life."

"And why would you possibly have to deal with my husband?" Astoria wanted to know, not even wanting to think about how that would go.

Gellert made a sound that suggested he was feeling very put upon. "Because if your son is unhappy then Potter is unhappy. And if Potter is unhappy then Albus will feel it necessary to spend time comforting him, and that's time that should be spent with me."

"Ah." Okay, that made sense. Gellert sense anyway. "Well I don't think you'll have to worry about that. I think between the two of us Scorpius has his head on straight, even if his father's is still backward."

A considering look came into the blonde's eyes. "You do realize you could do better than Draco Malfoy, right?"

She laughed. "Perhaps. But I love the idiot."

"My condolences."

"Thank you, Gellert. I hope you and your young man have a good day."

Nodding his head in acknowledgement Gellert politely wished her the same and then left to get back to monopolizing his man's attention.

Astoria watched him go with amusement in her eyes, waiting until he was out of her line of vision before she turned her attention to the parchment he'd given her. Reading over the neatly written list of points Gellert had thought her husband needed to be aware of Astoria felt her eyes get bigger and bigger, her jaw dropping in shock by the time she'd reached the fifth suggestion.

"Oh for…thank Merlin he gave this to me instead of going to see Draco himself. He'd have ended up a catatonic at St. Mungos."

But it wouldn't hurt to hang onto it either, Astoria decided as she folded up the pieces of parchment and put them in her coat pocket. Especially if she needed to shut any of the other Malfoys up when she laid down the law where Scorpius's future was concerned.

And if they didn't fall into line…well she knew just who to sic on them now.

)

Reading one of the assigned chapters in his textbook Christopher turned the page, absently looking down at the beautiful blonde head that was currently using his thigh for a pillow. And how weird was that? Here he was, a werewolf surrounded by his peers, with the most beautiful woman in the school curled up beside him on the couch and making her claim very well known to anyone who passed by. She seemed absorbed by whatever article had caught her attention in the magazine she was reading, but she had to be aware of some of the looks they were getting. He was pretty sure he'd caught a couple people with cameras in their hands before they'd hastily disappeared from his sight. So she knew and just didn't give a damn.

How lucky was he?

Well aware of his warm gaze Domi looked up from her magazine and blew him a kiss, giving him a wink for good measure before going back to her article.

Curious as to what she was reading about Christopher turned his attention to the article, reading the title with more than a little trepidation.

'How To Make Your Guy Think It Was His Idea When It's Really Yours'

Retrieving his pad of paper and pencil Christopher quickly scribbled a note informing her that she really didn't need to work on that area of their relationship, shoving the pad in front of the article for her to see. He was already twisted around her finger too much as far as he was concerned. The last thing he needed was for her to deliberately try to hone her skills in that particular area.

Turning her attention to the message Domi read it and then smiled winningly up at him, deliberate making her voice overly innocent and girlie. "Oh I know that I'm a pro when it comes to manipulating your gender, Sweetie. But it's always good to add to my repertoire too. I wouldn't want to become predictable after all."

Christopher's next message was straight to the point. 'You're already extremely unpredictable.'

"Awww, thank you."

Looking towards the ceiling with a 'why me' gaze Christopher sighed and then turned his attention back to writing another message, informing her that he very much preferred her straightforward, take no prisoners attitude.

Laughing, Domi closed the magazine and then shifted over so that she could comfortably snuggle into the man's lap, resting her head contently on his shoulder. She did so love his scent, Domi thought as she fingered his collar. "Don't worry, I don't intend to stop being a bitch anytime soon."

With some shifting around Christopher managed to write on his pad that she shouldn't call herself a bitch.

Reading the message Domi laughed and shook her head. "Of course I should. I'm a werewolf's girl."

It took Christopher a moment to figure out what that had to do with anything, but when he got it he had to smile and shake his head. That was his Domi for him, he thought as he nuzzled the top of her head, content to cuddle for the time being as he abandoned his pencil and paper in order to free his hands up to hold her close.

)

Al smiled as he watched them from a nearby chair, man enough to admit that while he was happy for them he was jealous too. The two were a prime example of how two people were perfectly capable of making it work even though logically they shouldn't. Christopher and Domi were so different in so many ways, but under the surface stuff they fit each other like two pieces of a puzzle. They'd probably never be a perfect fit, but who really wanted perfect? It was fitting right that was the important thing.

Albus and Gellert had that too. Or they would when Albus finished sanding down a few of the blond's sharper edges.

When he thought about the bonds his friends had with their guys, well he figured he had a reason to be a little more green eyed than normal.

Turning his attention back to the textbook he was also supposed to be reading Al had gotten half way through the chapter when he sensed someone standing in front of him. Looking up from the page he was on Al could only blink in surprise when he saw who it was. "Scorpius."

You could have knocked the Gryffindor over with a feather when the blond held out a hand and asked him to come with him.

Confused but more than willing Al closed his book without marking his place, holding it in one hand while he placed the other in Scorpius's, letting the other man pull him to his feet. Something was definitely up, it was in the storminess of the former Slytherin's eyes. But sensing that the other boy wanted privacy for whatever they were going to talk about Al didn't ask and simply let Scorpius gently pull him off in the direction of their dorm room.

Staring at their joined hands as they walked in silence Al testingly tightened his grasp, pleased when the blond's fingers returned the gesture.

When they arrived at their dorm room Al went in first when Scorpius opened the door and gestured him to go in, reluctantly letting go of the man's hand as he did so. Turning around to face him as soon as the door closed behind them the Gryffindor gave his ex a questioning look but didn't ask, sensing that Scorpius had a lot to get off his chest and needed to take the lead in this conversation.

Belatedly realizing that he probably should have taken some time to think through what he was going to say and how he was going to say it Scorpius mentally ranted against Gellert, who'd obviously short circuited way more brain cells then he'd previously thought.

Running an annoyed hand through his hair Scorpius stared at the man staring back at him, calmly waiting for him.

Waiting for him.

Okay, he knew where to start.


	10. It Was Always You

It's Always Been You

Al stared at the other man, waiting for him to make the first move. And when Scorpius stepped forward and threw himself into his arms the Gryffindor didn't hesitate to return the gesture, gathering his former boyfriend up against him as he held him tightly in his protective embrace. He was being held so tightly, Al thought as he nuzzled the side of his face against Scorpius's, not sure what the hell had happened but knowing that something serious had shifted between the two of them since they'd last spoken. Until he knew what had shifted it wasn't safe for him to move or question, things were too up in the air to risk it, so he'd just hold on and wait.

When he finally drew back so that he could meet Al's questioning gaze Scorpius stared into the familiar, haunting green depths of the other man's eyes and then leaned forward to slant his lips against the ones that parted in surprise against his.

The Gryffindor let the other man take the lead until he was sure that Scorpius was serious, then he returned the kisses with equal fervor, keeping one arm around the blond's waist while his free hand came up to cup the back of his ex's head so that he could better control the angle of their increasingly frantic snogging. He could all but taste Scorpius's desperation and need, and not knowing where that came from or why now had warning bells going off in Al's head, though he refused to listen to them.

But as soon as their lips parted Al forced himself to move his hand from the back of Scorpius's head to the other boy's cheek, stroking the skin there as he asked the obvious question. "What's going on, Scorpius?"

"I don't want to ruin some girl's life by marrying her." Scorpius blurted out, unable to stop the words that he'd been bottling up for what seemed like forever, the words tripping over each other as he struggled to get out the decision he'd made when he'd been bitch slapped with the truth of his future. "And I don't want to have kids who have crappy childhoods because I made them and their mother unbearably unhappy because I was. I don't want to be miserable the rest of my life and I don't want you to not be in my life because I hated being away from you when I came to this stupid school and I really hated breaking up with you because I figured that the sooner I did that the less it would hurt when we had to split up but I was wrong and it was stupid and…and being a damn Malfoy isn't worth all this shite. I'll be a Greengrass if it comes to that. The first to actually have really good taste in men…if you'll take me back that is. Please."

Al's mouth dropped open a little, obviously struggling to process what had just been said and the insinuations being made. "Are you…are you saying you want to go out with me again?" Because that's what it sounded like to him, but that could be wishful thinking.

There wasn't a hint of hesitation now. "I'm saying that I love you, and yes, I want us to be a couple again. And I want everyone to know it this time, no sneaking around. I want people to know that we're a pair. Together."

Warily Al's eyes stared into Scorpius's, trying to read what was there and finding it surprisingly easy to do. Scorpius wasn't hiding anything from him today, the man's emotions naked on his face as he stared back at him without flinching.

A wide smile breaking across the Gryffindor's face Al leaned forward to give Scorpius a hard, passionate kiss, holding the blond's head between his hands as he poured his joy and love into the heated exchange of lips. Scorpius did love him, did want to be with him, the Gryffindor mentally rejoiced as he took what was his and gave back more. And okay, there was a voice in the back of his head saying that Scorpius could always change his mind later on, but he was a Potter, he wasn't afraid to risk it all on the chance that he'd get his happiness in the end.

"So that's a yes?" Scorpius panted out when his lips were momentarily freed up, hope bright in his eyes.

Laughing Al nodded his head, a tremendous smile on his face. "Yeah, that's most definitely a yes."

Throwing himself back into the man's arms and the snogging Scorpius put his all into the exchange as well and then pulled back as another thought occurred to him. "And you still love me?"

"Never stopped."

That called for a lot more snogging on both their parts until Albus came in to regretfully break it up by reminding them that they still had classes they had to attend.

)

Astoria strolled into the estate like she owned the place, which she basically did since her money had paid for its upkeep over the years. Technically she could have kicked the Malfoys out of the place instead of leaving herself but seriously, why would she want to stay in the former Death Eater's meeting place if not for love of her husband? And not at all surprised when her in laws descended upon her with the obvious intent to get in her way Astoria didn't hesitate to use her wand to cast a body-binding curse on Narcissa since she was the real threat, then took out Lucius the same way while he gaped at her in shock while struggling to retrieve his wand from his cane.

"Astoria! What the hell?"

Looking towards her husband, who stood open mouthed with shock in the middle of the hallway, Astoria smiled brightly at him. "Honey, I'm home."

And since her husband was obviously too stunned by what she'd done to say anything Astoria figured it was up to her to continue the conversation. "I'm not staying long as I figure it's going to take us a bit longer to mend things between us. I just wanted to let you know that our son is going to be dating Albus Potter from now on and that if you have a problem with that you're going to keep it to yourself. You don't. and I will not only divorce your pale arse, but I will take what little money your family has left and sell this ugly monstrosity called the Malfoy Manor while I'm at it for spite. Don't think I won't, this is the wellbeing of my first born we're talking about here. I did not spend thirteen hellish hours in labor to see him miserable, you hear me? And as for your second child, which I am carrying, if you want to be a part of his or her life you're going to have to give yourself a serious attitude adjustment, Draco Malfoy. You are a damn good man no matter what anyone else says, and you're just hurting yourself and the people who truly love you when you believe or behave otherwise. I love you with all my heart. You don't have to be anyone but yourself for me. And if you're as smart as I know you to be you'll love my and our CHILDREN the same way."

"Scorpius is…dating Potter's boy?"

It took a great deal of effort on Astoria's part not to blast her husband over the fact that that was what he was concentrating on. "Yes, he is. Or he will be, hopefully. Apparently they were dating before when they were both at Hogwarts but our idiot son decided to be just like you and let his father do his thinking for him, which of course was a serious mistake on both your parts. He decided that since you and your father want him to marry some Slytherin pureblood he should do so and not do what was best for him. What he wanted to do with his life. But thankfully I think Gellert and I have gotten it through his head that personal happiness is more important than living up to the expectations of others, especially stupid ones based on archaic ideas that need to die ASAP."

Not liking the comparisons being made Draco grasped at straws while he tried to figure out his next move. "And Potter is okay with this? Harry Potter I mean."

"I haven't talked to him about it-yet-but from what I know of them the Potters care enough about their son's happiness that they'll welcome Scorpius into their family for Albus's sake alone. Plus they've already got Andromeda in their folds, so what could one more Slytherin hurt, really?" Astoria's hands went to her hips. "So is Harry Potter going to best you again by being ten times the father you are, or are you going to man up about this?"

Hunching his shoulders reflexively Draco had to fight the urge to squirm under her steely gaze. "That's hitting below the belt."

"I'm a Slytherin. We always hit below the belt. We're twisted that way."

A chuckle escaping his lips in spite of himself Draco gave her a small smile. "I guess that's true." He admitted, his next words only slightly above a whisper. "I've missed you so."

Staring at his wife Draco didn't know how to address the rest of what she'd said. In his mind he knew she was right, but old habits were damn hard to break and one of them was finding himself lacking in every possible way and listening to his father even when he knew he shouldn't. He'd never been able to live up to the standards put forth for him by the people he loved the most when he was Scorpius's present age. And in this case the standards his wife wanted him to aspire to were achievable…provided he was willing to stop listening to his parents and listen to her instead.

"I've missed you as well." Walking over Astoria framed his face between her hands, smiling at him softly as she leaned in to brush her lips against his. "And I know it won't be easy, but worse comes to worse we can always sic Gellert on them. He's volunteered for the job."

Draco paused for several heartbeats to imagine that, shuddering at the mental images they inspired.

"Yeah, or Scorpius always has his Animagi form if need be." Draco suggested weakly as he tried to add a little humor, thinking of the cat like creature Scorpius had learned to become. You had to be pretty stupid to mess with an animal whose fur was like poisonous porcupine quills.

And okay, that wasn't really humorous either.

Nodding her agreement Astoria smiled at him, pleased that he was at least trying. "Now I suppose we should undo the body-binding curses and let them have their say, huh?" The sooner she argued them into submission the better.

Glancing in his parents' direction Draco instinctively put himself between them and his wife, feeling infinitely better about himself when he realized what he'd done.

"I'll do it, just to be on the safe side." He stated as he drew out his own wand.

"I've got your back." She assured him, placing her free hand on his shoulder. "Always."

)

At dinner that night numerous people took note of the fact that Al Potter and Scorpius Malfoy arrived with their hands firmly interlaced together at their sides. It was a deliberate move on their part, and Al had already sent a letter home notifying his family of the fact that he was once again dating Scorpius so that they wouldn't be blindsided when one of his fellow students spilled the news to someone in the media who would of course pounce and spread the word like fiendfyre in inexperienced hands.

They were ready for that though, or as ready as they could be at this point.

They were prepared to get Albus to sic Gellert on the press if it became absolutely necessary.

"You know, it's really ironic." Domi commented while they filled their plates once dinner magically appeared at their table. "We all had to come to the other side of the world to find our men. I mean what would have happened if we all hadn't agreed to be exchanged students? Poor, Baby, you might never have met me." She added as she turned to look at her boyfriend, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek for emphasis.

"We'd have found each other eventually." Was Gellert's firm opinion on the subject, his eyes on Albus as he said it. There wasn't a doubt in his mind.

"Without question." Albus agreed, smiling back at the man he'd loved for two lifetimes. They would always find each other, him and Gellert, it was their fate and one they could now freely embrace without the past driving them apart.

"Careful, Gellert, that was almost romantic." Al pointed out with a grin, happy for his best friend. Gellert might not have been the man he would have picked for Albus, but as long as the blond continued to make Albus deliriously happy Al had no intention of complaining.

Gellert gave his lover's best friend a less than amused look. "I was simply stating facts, nothing more."

Knowing better than to argue with his roommate, he'd really rather not end up in the hospital wing now that he and Al were back together, Scorpius wisely changed the subject to other things, their group of three couples falling into the routine they'd developed over the past few weeks together.

After dinner and homework another routine came into play when they separated for the night, Christopher walking Domi to her door before heading to his own room while the other four headed to their shared dorm in companionable silence. Once there Gellert and Albus bid the other two good night and then slipped into their shared bunk, leaving Al and Scorpius standing in front of their shared bunk bed.

Normally they too would have parted ways after bidding each other good night, but this time Al drew Scorpius into his arm for another long and lingering kiss, breaking it off to inquire as to whether or not he could join Scorpius in his bed after getting changed, making it clear that he wouldn't be offended if the answer was no. He didn't mind taking it slow, he just wanted to be close to him.

And though he stuttered a little Scorpius answered that yes, he would like that quite a lot.

He would, in fact, most definitely like it if that became their routine from here on in, the blonde thought as he headed onto his bunk to get changed himself.

If it was up to him, it would always be so.

)

Eyes half closed Albus's body was ready to go to sleep but his mind wasn't willing to turn off just yet. A normal problem, one he'd had to deal with during both his lifetimes. But since he wasn't worry about an impending war or trying to stay as many steps ahead of Tom Riddle as possible Albus figured that sleep would come soon enough. For now he was happy just to stroke his fingers through his lover's curls and savor the other man's weight on top of him. Gellert was having the same problem as him too, he could all but hear the gears turn in the man's head, though he knew not what thoughts were on the other man's mind.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just mulling over the fact that I'm a little regretful that I didn't ultimately get the chance to give Lucius Malfoy what's coming to him. It's been so long since I've really laid into anyone, I'd hate to get rusty. You know I have it down to an art form." Gellert smiled wickedly against the redhead's chest, breathing in the man's scent with every breath he took. "But I think Scorpius's mother is going to take care of it, she had quite the look in her eye when she left."

Chuckling low in his throat Albus shook his head. "You don't need any practice because you do have it down to an art form. And yes, I think she'll be able to handle things from here on in, and what she can't Al and Scorpius will."

"So you think those two can really make it, hmmm?" Not that he actually cared of course, but things would just be better for all involved if the two made things work. A happy Al was a happy Albus after all.

"I think that what they feel for each other is something they can build on to have the sort of love you and I have." Was Albus's sage reasoning as he reached out to gently stroke his beloved's face, blue eyes soft with love. "And if there's one thing you and I know how to do extremely well, it's advising people how not to mess up their love lives and the importance of communication."

He could argue with that but he just didn't feel like it. "So you and I are going to have to babysit the young couple for a while then?" Oh goody.

"I think we can let them stumble their way through it for now."

"Thank Merlin."

Laughing outright at that Albus rolled them over, looming over his lover as he braced on his hands so that he could lean forward to press his lips against Gellert's. "You're such a romantic."

"What I am is yours, always." Gellert corrected, and agreeing with that a hundred percent Albus leaned back down to seal the words with another kiss.

The End


End file.
